1,460 Days
by November Rising
Summary: He'd come back. He always came back. Dark!Percy.
1. Chapter 1

_I settled down,_

_A twisted up frown,_

_Disguised as a smile._

It was early morning when he left. It was the usual thing; the alarm going off, him getting up. Sometimes frost coated the window; sometimes not. After he had risen out of bed, I could hear him fumble around in the closet, before blindly making his way towards the door. Sometimes he would bang into a piece of furniture, a muttered oath in the dark. I would smile at that.

I would hear the shower running, and it would send me deeper back into sleep. Then, I would feel his breath against my ear as he kissed me on the cheek.

_I love you, _the words muttered against my skin. Then he was gone, away to whatever mysterious errand the Sea God asked him to do. But he came back. Always.

Three hours later, I'd emerge from the bathroom, hair wet and usually a lot more awake then when I had entered it. I couldn't stay in the bed for longer than sleep and exhaustion necessitated. I didn't like the hole he left.

I would pad to the kitchen, fixing myself a bowl of cereal, or toast, if I was feeling more bothered. I'd eat at the kitchen, before moving to the study.

Neither of us had to work. Being the children of Gods and Goddesses had their benefits. He helped his father control the ocean. I was in the middle of writing a novel.

I'd yawn as I stared at the computer screen, sometimes typing, sometimes drifting off into space, thinking about, well, everything.

A framed photo sat proudly beside the Mac on the desk. It had been taken at dusk, the sky behind us shot through with purple and orange. It wasn't a professional photograph, instead taken by Nico with a phone camera. Still, it was of remarkable quality. Maybe Hermes had helped.

It showed us on the beach, him in a black tuxedo, me in a simple white dress. We were smiling, him holding me bridal style in the surf. The guests at the wedding were demigods and humans who already knew about us; there was no need to hide the complete lack of effect the water had on his clothes. Twin gold bands glinted from our fingers, his catching a ray of light from somewhere. It had been a wonderful day, almost two years ago, and it still made me feel warm inside.

I snapped back into attention and rubbed my eyes, focusing on the display in front of me. I had always wanted to be an architect, and maybe I would still be some day. But as Athena's daughter, I felt the urge to contribute something to the world. What better way than a book?

After six hours, I'd make myself lunch, and go for a run, or if I was feeling lazy, a jog. The physical activity felt good, reliving some of the jitters the ADHD gave me. Computers and literary stuff were all well and good; but they were nothing compared to physical activity. It also gave me time to think, and plot. Sometimes I would plot was trivial things, sometimes the novel. Sometimes, I would plot out us, and out life together, and how we'd progress through it. With him by my side, anything seemed possible.

After the jog or run—whichever my enthusiasm dictated—I'd take a shower again. The sun would start to set by that time, and he would be home soon. He always was. Never late.

I would cook dinner, or, again if I was feeling lazy, simply order takeout. It wasn't as if money was in a short supply. I didn't feel like cooking that night. He was actually rather good when it came to food; he just wasn't home early enough most of the time.

The ball of worry in my stomach grew bigger as the sun sunk lower. He was usually home at that time. Sometimes he'd be late; being under the ocean most of the time meant that he couldn't really call. So, I squashed it and went to watch television.

It grew darker as I huddled on the couch, focusing on the television. The news was on, and then some kind of reality television show. I took it all in without really seeing it. Finally, that ended and the more adult-orientated.

I switched the television off and rubbed my eyes before glancing at the clock. The anxiety I tried so hard to squash down started to rise again. It was nine o'clock. He was never out that late. I still tried not to worry, though.

_I'm a big girl now... _I told myself. _I can handle it. _

Still, I couldn't help it. The home phone sat on its stand in the kitchen, the green light glowing in the relative darkness.

I picked it up, flipping it open. The screen lit the dark, a tiny block rectangle in the dark. I wasn't afraid of the dark, not anymore. He'd healed that, among other things.

I called his phone, knowing what I'd here when it dialled. It didn't even ring, going directly to voicemail.

_Hey, I can't take your call at the moment. If you wanna leave a message, well, you know what to do._

I hung up before the tone beeped.

Sitting the phone back in its cradle, I looked at the digital display on the cradle.

It was ten o'clock.

I sat myself down in front of the television, fighting back my worry as I switched it on to National Geographic, taking a blanket out of the cupboard in the hallway. I wasn't going to bed without him.

Beyond uneasy at that point, I drifted in a restless sleep at one in the morning, dreams filled with eyes, sea green and dark purple, kind and cruel, claws and talons and celestial bronze.

It was morning when I woke, sun filtering in through the curtains that adorned the windows. The television was still on, the program a morning talk show, the clock at the bottom of the screen showing the date and time. It was eight in the morning. I ran upstairs, hoping against hope that he'd been home and left again.

I knew the answer before I pushed through the bedroom door, but still hoping I was wrong. His clothes from the day before still lay on the bottom of the bed, a sure sign he hadn't been in there. He was a neat freak; he couldn't stand it. He also couldn't stand having an unmade bed, which it so obviously was.

He hadn't come back. Percy hadn't come home. I sat in the hall and let the tears fall.

**Annabeth is OOC. Yes, I know that. I also have a reason why she's so fragile and unlike herself. You will find out more about it later. This will pan out, eventually, hopefully with a happy ending. However, we have a while to go before then. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for reviews/alerts/favourites. They were much appreciated.**

Thalia was the one who found me first. My hands were sticky by the time the last tear fell. I stood in the hall, swaying slightly. The ground seemed much further away than usual, a part of the dark blue carpet stained with my tears. Sunlight filtered through the window at the top of the stairs, illuminating the pale blue walls.

I tried to think, sort out the facts in a logical way, but the instant I thought of the unmade bed and the reason that came with it, hysteria took over. I collapsed back down, the wall against my back as the sobs and ragged breaths ripped up my windpipe and exploded out of my mouth and I found out I did have more water left in my body to cry out. Yay.

_I can't do it. I can't, _I thought, trying to draw a breath. A horrible image of those wicked purple eyes forced its way into my vision. I choked, a strangled sob erupting from my chest that sounded, to me, the most pitiful thing I had ever heard. Still, I was too distraught to care.

"Hello?" I jumped at the voice.

"Annabeth?" the voice asked. "Percy?"

Hearing his name, out loud and not from my mouth, was the final straw. I clawed at the ground, the sobs intensifying until I couldn't hear anything apart from my own hoarse breathing and the moans and odd small sounds of unhappiness that were coming from my mouth.

The door opened, downstairs, and I flinched away from the sound, curling into a ball. 'Gone to pieces' at this point didn't cover exactly what I was feeling. I knew it was stupid. I just couldn't help it.

The stairs creaked, and then someone walked warily up them. I sort of crawled away from the stairs, back towards the room.

"What was—Annabeth!" A black haired girl stood on the last step, electric blue eyes alarmed.

"Annabeth!" Thalia started towards me, bending down as she neared. "What happened? Where's Percy?"

Hearing his name _again _certainly didn't help. She crouched beside me, putting her arm around my shoulder. She got me into a sitting position, and sat beside me, pulling me into her. Knowing I was probably ruining her shirt, but not really caring, I sobbed into her as she held me and rocked us back and forth.

Finally, the last tear fell.

"Annabeth," Thalia said, looking at me. "I need you to tell me what's wrong. I can't help you fix it if I don't know what the problem is."

"He's...he's..." I swallowed painfully. "I need...water."

She nodded, and gently pulled me up. Together, her arm still around my shoulder, she half carried, half pulled me to the bathroom, where I turned on the tap, cupping my hands underneath and bringing the water to my lips.

It soothed my throat and made me feel stronger. I think that was just mental, but it helped, either way.

I looked at Thalia, who was staring concernedly at me. It had been three years since Thalia had started aging again. The Hunters weren't really for her, and as soon as she was sure the prophesy wasn't about her, she had asked to be released from her role. Artemis was none too happy, but Thalia had somehow got what she wished. In return, she had to give up her shield, which _Thalia _was none too happy about, but with happiness comes sacrifices. I was learning that right now.

"He's gone," I whispered, turning away.

"Percy." It wasn't a question, but I nodded anyway.

Her hand shot into my field of vision. I took it, and she shoved me upright.

"C'mon Wise Girl," she said. "You're stronger than this. If we're going to find him, we'll need your help."

"We?" I asked.

Thalia smiled for the first time, and I smiled a small smile in return. All of a sudden, I was feeling hopeful. What the hell was with my emotions? They were all over the place.

Thalia pulled an iPhone out of her pocket. The new one, I noted. I liked to be ahead of technology.

"I thought that wasn't released to the public yet."

"It isn't."

She walked down the hall, touching the phone before putting it to her ear. I followed her, descending down the steps slowly.

She had plugged the phone into the speaker system in the kitchen when I entered. It projected the other persons' or peoples' voices around the kitchen, it also had a sensitive speaker.

"Thalia?" asked a voice. Nico. "What's wrong?" He sounded sleepy. "Do you know how early it is?"

"Yeah," Thalia said, matter-of-factly. "It's ten in the morning. Get your lazy ass out of bed."

There was some grumbling on the other end, and the sound of banging. I flinched at the sound.

Then Nico's voice picked up again.

"Okay, okay, I'm up," he said. "Now, what's wrong?"

Thalia explained the situation to him as I tried not to cry again. It was hard, but only a few tears dripped.

"I'm going to get Rachel and Grover," Thalia said, bending over to touch the phone again.

A dialling tone started through the speakers, until one of them picked up. The other went to voicemail.

I shuddered. I'd had enough of voicemail.

"Hello?" said Rachel, voice booming from the speakers. I winced and Thalia touched the volume control at the base of the cradle.

"Hey, Rachel." Unlike me, Thalia had had no problem with Rachel. Although, lately, neither did I. And I needed all the help I could get. "We have a situation..."

Thalia explained what happened, while thumping and banging could be heard from Nico's end.

Finally, his voice crackled through the speakers.

"So," he said, voice muffled. He was probably eating something. Nico was _always _eating something. "Do you want me to come over?"

"Absolutely," Thalia said. "Rachel, can you see anything, you know, related to him?"

Rachel sighed, a rush of static through the speakers. "It doesn't work like that. I wish it did, but I can't simply access the future. It comes to me in flashes and bursts. And sometimes I spout things I don't even understand! How crazy does that sound?"

"Well, you better come over here too." Thalia told them the address, before switching the phone off. I sat in a chair, and put my head in my hands. The spark of hope had died as quickly as it came.

"Don't worry," Thalia said, staring in my eyes. "We'll find him. Even if it's the last thing we do."

And I started to hope again. It was a small hope, but a hope all the same.

_Percy, if you can somehow here me, I'm coming. Just like you came for me, that time..._

**Yes, I know Annabeth is OOC. I know she shouldn't fall to pieces like that. There is a reason, believe me.**

**Anyway, this is chapter two. Maybe I will update again, maybe I won't.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Wow. Since you guys went crazy with the reviews, favourites, and alerts (I had thirty emails in my inbox this morning), I decided to update. Be aware, it probably won't continue on this quickly. You guys really like my stuff, don't you? I am very glad. :D**

* * *

The water was cool around my ankles as I stepped into it. It was a clear blue day, not a cloud in the sky. It was so not mirroring my mood. Thalia stood beside and a little behind me, looking uncertainly down at the salt water that swished around our feet.

"Are you sure about this?" she asked, wrinkling her nose. "I don't really trust Per—oh, sorry."

I nodded. Thalia and Percy had always clashed, and it was still hard for her to come to terms with the fact that he was missing.

"He did it himself," I said. "I know it works, on me at least."

"Nico?" called Thalia, looking over her shoulder as the breeze coming off of the sea whipped her hair around her neck, like Medusa's. I shivered. I probably shouldn't have thought of that.

Nico was standing barefoot in the sand, eating a cheeseburger. Admittedly, it was around lunch time, but this was serious. He could at least _attempt_ serious. He was the son of the Lord of the Dead! Why was he so damn carefree all of the time?

"Yeah, I'm comin'," he said, cramming the last of the burger in his mouth before swallowing.

He walked over to Thalia, and grabbed her hand. I grabbed Thalia's right hand, and together we walked into the surf.

Rachel had had to stay behind, due to the fact that she was mortal, and therefore more fragile than us, and she had been trying all morning to catch a glimpse of Percy which had resulted in nothing except for a pounding headache

So, she had lain down in the bedroom of a hotel suite she was sharing with us, and we had travelled to the beach. There was barely anyone there where we were, thank goodness, and no one saw us disappear below the water line.

Once underwater, I opened my mouth and inhaled. It was fine. I was breathing water. I looked over at Nico and Thalia beside me. They looked uncertain, and then worried, and then they couldn't take it any longer. Their mouths opened and compressed air blasted out as their lungs took in the water. Nico looked relieved, as Thalia smiled at me and beckoned.

_Let's go. _The thought sounded through my mind, and I was glad for that connection. We swam down, down to where the sand bar ended and the real ocean began. This was where we waited.

* * *

In the morning, after the call had finished, I went into the bathroom. We had a saltwater font there, useful for making calls of the demigod kind.

I threw a drachma in. "O goddess, accept my offering. Please show me..." I took a breath. "Show me Percy Jackson."

The misty spray formed together, flashing different colours before coming together in a dark tableau. Of what I was seeing, I had no idea. The vision twisted and buckled, forming and reforming before finally, the image shook. It shook some more before it showed one finally image, something deep and so dark it was almost black. Then, the mist solidified into a pane of ice, before cracking and breaking apart. I ducked as pieces flew around the room, scoring the walls, floors and cleaving the font in two.

Salt water sprayed the floor around me. I stood and looked at the destroyed bathroom. Whatever that ice was, it wasn't normal. It had sheared through the walls as though it was rice paper, smashing tiles on the floor and travelling through to the beams below. The bathroom creaked ominously as a tile near my foot fell onto the floor below. The door had a couple of large chunks gouged out of it, and through it and into the hallway I could see even more destruction.

Gingerly walked down the stairs, each step creaking as more plaster rained down on my head. Thalia, Nico and Rachel were in the kitchen, Thalia bent over the communication system, Nico rummaging around the in the fridge, and Rachel sitting on the bench with her arms folded.

"It didn't show me anything," I said to them. "It didn't work at all." A tile dropped from the roof behind me, punctuating my remark.

"Well, we need to contact someone," Thalia said, straightening up. "Do you think Percy's dad would help?"

I sat on the bench, absentmindedly combing my fingers through my hair. "Well, I know our parents are distant, but I think they love us. I mean, when... it... happened, mum helped..." I trailed off. That was something I didn't need to think about at the moment.

Thalia nodded, and pulled out a short knife. Crossing to the kitchen sink, she burst the tap with one swipe. Water erupted out of it, separated by a chunk of metal that was lodged in the tap. What resulted was some mist and a few gushes of water.

"Are you ready?" she asked me, handing me a drachma. Rachel turned around, interested.

I nodded uncertainly, and tossed the coin in the makeshift fountain.

"O goddess, accept my offering."

The coin disappeared.

"Show me Poseidon, Lord of the Sea."

The mist shimmered and reformed, showing me underwater. The unearthly green glow lit the scene, coming from torches set next to a throne. In that throne sat Poseidon.

He stared at me.

"Hello, Annabeth," he said, and I steeled myself against the power in his voice.

"Lord Poseidon," I said, bowing respectfully. Thalia and Rachel did the same. Nico closed the fridge.

He smiled, briefly, and then his face was expressionless.

"Sir, do you know what happened... do you know what happened with Percy?" I said, voice breaking at the end.

At this, Poseidon frowned. "No, I thought he was at home with you?"

It was then the last of my control slipped. I suppose I had been betting on Percy being down there with Poseidon for some unknown extended reason. I buckled, as Thalia rushed to support me, and Rachel jumped up uncertainly. I was gasping, the oxygen not being carried to my blood. I felt like I was suffocating and light-headed at the same time.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain across my cheek. While it didn't fully snap me out, it did help. I stopped hyperventilating, and started taking deeper breaths.

_We'll find him. It will be okay. We'll find him._

Thalia stood there, hand raised, ready to slap me again. She lowered her hand as I looked back at the Iris message. Poseidon was looking concernedly at me.

"Are you in control?" he asked me.

I nodded again.

"Good, then tell me the story."

I explained.

Poseidon's face got blacker and blacker, and by the end he erupted.

"HOW DARE THEY?" he bellowed, the force making the house shake. "STEAL MY SON, THE HERO OF OLYMPUS? I SHALL MAKE THEM SUFFER!"

The house continued to shake, plaster pouring down like rain. A metal creak sounded somewhere, along with a horrible sound of ripping. The window shattered, and the house started to groan.

Thalia screamed something and threw her knife through the mist. The connection severed, but it was too late. The house gave a final shreik and split in two. Various pieces of furniture and Gods knows what else rained down, and, fearing imminent death, I closed my eyes.

What happened was sudden darkness.

We were sitting in some sort of earthen room, a small circular hole in the top. I could see around, barely, and Thalia, Rachel and Nico were crouched around me. Nico was visibly straining, perspiration evident on his head.

Finally, the rain of debris stopped, and Nico sighed, relaxing. The earth around us crumbled to dust.

We were crouched in the middle of the debris of what was once the house Percy and I shared.

I stared around at the devastation, with disbelieving eyes. Not far from me was the large conch shell that sat on my bedside table, chipped and cracked. A little further away was the bedside table.

"What are we going to do now?" I asked them.

Nico pouted. "Oh, suuuuuure. No thanks to Nico, no, 'Oh, thank you for saving all of our lives, Nico!'" He waved his hand around. "I even lost my sandwich!"

Thalia kissed him. "Thank you," she said. Nico blushed bright red.

I smiled, and then felt guilty for smiling, as though happiness was now outlawed.

"I think we should go to the beach," I said, answering my own question. "Is the car okay?"

"I think so..." Rachel walked over to it, stepping around chunks of what had once been my home.

She wiped the dust off of it, opened the door, and turned the key that was already in the transmission.

The car roared to life, and I let myself feel relief.

"Let's go," I said, as we walked towards the car. I was nearly there when I stopped. Something white glinted out of the dust and other colours. It was my Mac. I picked it up in both arms, about to carry it off when I found something else.

The photo frame was twisted and tarnished, the glass cracked and missing, but the photo was intact. I took it out of the frame, dropping the frame back in the rubble, before heading towards the car.

I hopped in the back, putting the Mac on the seat beside me, and looking at the photo. A tear dripped down my cheek.

"We'll find him," Nico said gently, putting him arm around me. I nodded as Rachel pulled away from the kerb, driving along the street, behind us the last remanent of Percy's and my life together in wreckage.

* * *

**Wow. That was actually pretty long. Hope you liked it. **

**The thing with Poseidon is up next.**

**shine . brightly_!**


	4. Chapter 4

**This is chapter four.**

**I actually now have a plot! Be aware, there will be Dark!Percy. If you don't like that, I'd stop reading in... about five chapters, I think.**

**Liiiiiiiiiiiiii. There, I updated for you, and Lady Chocobo, for your multiple reviews. And thank you to everyone else who alerted, favourited and reviewed too! I LU. :D Also, a special mention goes to cuteswede for the insightful reviews.**

* * *

We didn't have to wait there long. The ocean was cold, but not overtly so; it was pleasant.

_Like him._

We floated there, feet occasionally kicking out as I tried to peer out into the gloom.

_Poseidon, send me a sign..._

We continued to float, and I continued to stare off into the distance. Strange, but the far away light seemed brighter...

The light came closer, and it slowly changed shape, eventually becoming a beautiful woman.

She stopped in front of us, the Mako shark she was riding swimming into the depths unknown.

She touched my head. "Annabeth," she said, quietly, sadly. A warmth spread from her fingers, into my forehead, and then into my body proper. It filled me up, and suddenly my vision flexed and changed. I could see, perfectly, through the ocean. It wasn't exactly seeing normally, but I could still see everything around me, right down to the piece of drifting seaweed in the gloom fifty meters away.

I could also breathe perfectly, perhaps better than I could breathe air. When Percy- I tried hard not to flinch- had done it, it felt like there was a slight catch in my throat, like I supposed how people with asthma must breathe. That was gone.

She also touched Thalia and Nico. Their muttered exclamations confirmed that they also could now breathe like a fish.

Then she smiled again. "A gift from Poseidon. He wishes to bestow his welcome," she said. "Please follow me. He would like to talk to you."

The woman turned around, forgoing the shark and instead swimming away. Not knowing what else to do, I shrugged at Nico and Thalia, and followed her.

We seemed to be going in a downward direction, and I wasn't even surprised when the pressure didn't crumple us like tin cans. Poseidon didn't want to kill us. I don't think.

In the distance, a green blob appeared. As we drew closer, it drew larger. Finally, it became an intricate castle, with crenulations, sprawling courtyards, and eerie green lanterns. All underwater. It was amazing to think that this, this castle, could exist deep down in the ocean. But when you're a demigod, you get used to stuff like that, and it's kind of a normal occurrence.

We swam to the entrance, a carved set of wooden doors.

"These doors used to lead into the ballroom of the _Titanic,_" the woman said. "Poseidon rescued them."

Nico coughed fakely, badly hiding the word 'megalomaniacal'. I frowned at him for being disrespectful.

_Poseidon is my best chance for getting Percy back. I must stay on his good side..._

The woman either pretended not to hear Nico, or maybe wasn't pretending. Either way, she opened the door for us, and we swam inside.

As soon as she closed the door behind us, the water mysteriously disappeared, leaving no trace it was ever in there. Also, mysteriously, our clothes were perfectly dry. More powers of the water God. If life was a lottery, being a demigod was like winning. Being a powerful demigod was like winning by yourself, without others sharing in your prize. Well, despite the monsters and stuff like that.

_A monster may have taken Percy. If it has, I'll find it and tear it in two and consign it to the oblivion where it came from whilst its screams echoed in my ears..._

I shivered. My viciousness was scaring even me. Normally, I wasn't a violent person.

I wondered, off–handedly, if I was going crazy. I had the moodswings, I had the sudden personality changes. Maybe Percy had been all that kept me from a mental institute after it happened.

The woman snapped me out of my reverie, opening another door set into the wall. This lead to an average sized room, where Poseidon sat in a throne.

"Lord Poseidon," I said, bending to one knee and looking at the seashell patterned floor. I felt Thalia do the same beside me, and Nico did too.

"Rise, heroes," Poseidon said, the power in his voice reverberating around the room, free and unrestrained, like the ocean. "We have much to talk about."

_Like him._

I blinked back tears and stood.

* * *

It was dark when I woke up. It was the bottom of the ocean, so far down that no light could be seen above, apart from an extremely faint glimmer no one except a person with my eyesight would be able to see. Despite the lack of light, I could see where I was. I turned my head and saw faintly glowing celestial bronze chains, binding my torso and legs to something else I couldn't see. I could see the undersea oddities crawling around my feet, oblivious to everything.

I tried to remember where I was, and what I had been doing, shoving down the panic that was starting to engulf me. Nothing came to mind. It was blank.

_I'm Percy Jackson, _I thought, suddenly anxious, wondering if I'd lost my memory. _My mother's Sally Jackson. Poseidon is my father. I am married to Annabeth Chase. Well, Annabeth Jackson, now. I live in New York..._

"Ah, you're awake," a smooth voice said from a little way off. I knew that voice. I dreamt about that voice. It shared the same dreams as that purple eyed fucker.

"Kronos," I spat into the water. It came out as a blast of water.

He shouldn't have been able to hear me, but he could all the same.

"The very same. Hello Perseus," he said, stepping into the faint light that was cast by my chains. My prison, I realised now.

What the hell had I done to be in this situation?

"There's something I need you to do for me," he said in a silky voice.

"I won't do anything for you. Go to Hell," I spat at him.

"Oh, Percy," he said, feigning concern. "You're already there."

**End chapter four. :D**

**Cliff-hangers are awesome. **

**The next chapter will take place in the past. That's all I'm telling you about it.**

**Reviews make a happier writer and a quicker updater.**

**Into/Ero/shine(.)brightly**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm updating. Yeah, I only published the other chapter a couple of days ago, but I'm doing so again. Why?**

**'Cause I want to.**

**I actually found this chapter really hard to write, so I hope it's okay. Usually, I rewrite my chapters once or twice, usually, but I'm not doing this one again. **

**WARNING: Content is graphic in nature. Viewer discretion is advised. Mild profanity from an extremely pissed-off Percy, also.**

_Right now,_

_You're the only reason,_

_I'm not letting go, oh._

_September 12__th__, 2006. Annabeth's eighteenth birthday._

The party was in full swing. Lights were strung up in the trees, blue, green, white, casting glows into the dark. A little way off, a bonfire roared up into the night. Chiron and Dionysus were nowhere to be seen, and the alcohol was flowing freely. Annabeth herself was sitting against a tree trunk, paper cup in her hand, drinking some sort of punch, though it made her feel woozy and out of touch with the world.

Travis Stoll was sitting next to her.

"Did I...Did I ever tell you that you're pretty?" he said, slurring drunkenly.

Annabeth laughed, slightly less inebriated. "No, you haven't."

"You are," Travis giggled, then but his hand over his mouth. "I shouldn't 'ave done that. Giggled, I mean. S'not very manly."

Annabeth laughed at him, and his expression, and her earlier worry floated away. She had been sad, because Percy was off on a quest. They had been officially 'going out', for about a year and a half, after all the crazy with Kronos—crazy with Kronos—Annabeth laughed at that. He had to go on a quest last week, and sadly he wasn't home from her birthday. So Annabeth had decided before to drown her sorrows in whatever was in the paper cup.

"Indeed she is," said a smooth voice from the edge of the clearing. Annabeth and Travis turned to stare at him. He was tall, with spiky blond hair that formed a perfect messy halo around his face. His features were clean-cut, razor-edged. And he had the strangest eyes. They were purple. Not blue, not green. Purple, a light, bright shade.

He was pretty, Annabeth thought. Not handsome, as such, but pretty.

"Than you," she said, then laughed. "I forgot the 'k'."

He smiled briefly. His teeth were, oddly, sharpened to points in his mouth. Like a shark.

"Anyway," he continued, voice deep and measured. "I wonder if you would come with me. We have something we need to discuss in private."

Annabeth hesitated for a moment. Even in the state she was in, she knew she shouldn't really go off with anyone alone. But then, they were at camp; there were tonnes of teenagers here, and a god probably lurking around somewhere. He was a camper; she'd seen him around before. It's not like she was going far. But then, why did he want to talk to her anyway?"

She was about to say no, sorry, she couldn't, because she was drunk, but then he said something that instantly made up her mind.

He stared into her eyes, and then said, in a cool and measured tone, "It's about Percy."

Annabeth immediately rose, with a little difficulty, to her feet. He stepped forwards to help her. He smelt like wine. Supporting her, he led her away, with Travis Stoll looking a little concerned about something.

Travis stared at them as they departed.

There was something... something about that guy... But he couldn't remember what. He simply shrugged it off and continued drinking, finally falling asleep against the tree.

It wasn't until an hour later, when Travis suddenly woke up, that he remembered what it was. Immediately sober, he stood up and was off into the trees with a flash, hands fumbling for the phone that was in his pocket, not knowing it had slipped out as he had stood up.

**

* * *

**

I was deep in the forest when it happened.

I had been walking along, behind blondie, wondering how much further we needed to go. The sounds and lights of the party had faded away a good while ago, and now all I could hear was my breathing and the crunch of leaves and other stuff under our feet.

I was starting to worry, somewhere in the back of my alcohol-ridden mind. Before I could ponder it for too much longer, he stopped, and I ploughed into him.

"Oh, sorry..." I muttered, as he straightened me. I tried to get out of his grip, but he held me tighter. The worrying feeling intensified.

"Can you let go of me, please...?" I asked. It came out as a question.

He grinned at me. "Certainly."

He let go, and I tried to turn. However, something erupted from the ground at my feet. I tried to scream, but be put his hand over my mouth. And I could feel something twining around my legs, like snakes. I bit him and shrieked. He used this opportunity to force his tongue into my mouth, muffling any noise I made except grunts and moans.

He removed his tongue and shoved something in my mouth. I coughed around it, although it tasted pleasant.

There were vines around me, locked together so that I had no hope of escaping.

I willed myself to fall asleep, to let the alcohol still fizzing in my veins to take me to a happier place.

He grinned again, nastily, and waved his finger.

"Uh-uh," he said, tutting. "I want you to be good and awake for this."

My head suddenly cleared, and I rapidly became sober, all effects of the alcohol leaving my bloodstream.

"My father is Dionysus," he said, still grinning. "I was claimed last year. He wouldn't approve of what I'm doing, but I don't really care."

I shuddered as I felt his hands on me, everywhere. He unbuttoned my shirt. Tears started to fall from my eyes, and he wiped them away, his weird purple-hued eyes holding a mischievous twinkle, as though he was a child who knew he was doing something wrong, but was sure he'd get away with it.

The tears coursed down my cheeks as he slid it off my shoulders, leaving it around my wrists where they were bound by the rigid vines.

He leaned in again, towards my bra. I closed my eyes, utterly repulsed at the sensation.

He reached around the back, towards the clasp—

And then he was gone.

A rush of wind passed me, and the vines went limp. All the strength in my lower legs disappeared, and I collapsed to the ground.

"Fucker! I'll kill you!"

I was dazed, but I managed to turn over, to stare at the direction the voice came from.

Whoever the blond boy was, he was pinned against the ground, head resting on a tree. There was another boy lying on top of him, between his legs. It would have been almost sexual, if the one on top wasn't strangling the one on the bottom.

"How _dare _you?" the one on top said, hands working around the throat of the other. "You are so_ fucking deceased._"

It was Percy, his hair sticking up at odd angels and his teeth bared. Small jets of salt water erupted around his feet, and I could feel the ground shaking slightly. I had _never _seen this mad before, and it was starting to scare me, almost as bad as the person pinned underneath him had.

"Percy," I said, pushing myself up onto my arms. I pulled my shirt back on, buttoning it awkwardly. I crawled over to them.

"Percy, stop. You're killing him," I said as I neared them, the blond boy's face turning blue.

"Good," he said, savagely.

"Percy," I said, laying my hand on his shoulder. He stopped, eyes hard, and loosened his hands a bit. The blond guy sucked in a greedy breath, and Percy punched him square in the nose. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he was out like a light.

Percy was breathing heavily as he pushed himself off the ground. He turned to me, helping me up gently.

"Are you okay?" he asked, quietly.

I nodded, because if I thought about what had just happened, I would cry.

He wrapped his arms around me, and held me close, kissing me, as I melted into him.

"I'm glad you're back," I said, against him.

"So am I. Are you really okay? You seem pretty... fine for what just happened."

"I don't know. I don't feel anything."

"Shock," he said.

"Percy, look out!" I said, and he was ripped away from me in a flurry of vines.

I fell over, again, ripped away from the gentle warmth that had all that had been holding me aloft.

He was forced against a tree; the vines whipping around him as the encircled him and the tree. They started to strangle him, pulling tighter and tighter as the blond haired boy lay against another tree in the clearing, flicking his finger like a conductor's baton, blood gushing out of his nose and staining his teeth red.

"Stop it!" I screamed, trying to walk over to him, but only managing a crawl.

Then the vines went slack again, and I was pushed back by the water, the gallons and gallons of water that rushed around us like a torrent.

Now he was drowning, trying to claw at the water that encircled his head like a diving helmet. It was a war of the elements, and there was no doubt who won.

"Enough!" Percy yelled, the water dissipating up into the air, leaving the ground damp and dripping, along with our clothes. His were still perfectly dry. The area was completely barren, trees and sticks and rocks blasted away like driftwood.

I collapsed and began to cry, the night's experience rushing back to me. I couldn't take it anymore.

Percy didn't say anything, simply picking me up and setting me down with him, rocking me as I cried into his chest.

**Well, there we go. A little back story. Uh, I have a forum. If you wanna chat, roleplay, or talk to the author. I've currently got a writing competition in the works, so if you wanna stay tuned, go there.**

**-pushes all towards forum-**


	6. Chapter 6

**So, yeah, I'm 17. Happy birthday to me and all that crap. Sorry for the non-updating thing; I had a bit of writer's block, and this fic always takes the backseat to 'When It Rains'.**

**By the way, if you don't know, the Mariana Trench is the deepest part of the Earth's oceans, and the lowest part of the planet's crust.**

How long we stood there, discussing all that had transpired with the God of the Sea, I don't know. All I did know was that Poseidon shouldn't have provided such comfortable chairs, because somehow Nico managed to fall asleep in one. Resisting the urge to pull every single strand of hair out of his head, I instead slapped him in the face. It felt good, and released some of the pent-up emotions inside me. Of course, Nico didn't respond well to this, and was now pouting in the corner with the beginnings of a large bruise on the side of his face.

That was when Poseidon revealed a vital piece of information that made my blood run cold.

"A week ago," he said calmly, "Aphrodite encountered something in her temple that would have given her a heart attack, if she were human and capable of dying. Kronos' hand, totally reformed." There was a shocked silence from the room. Even Nico stopped whining to hear what Poseidon said next. "She came to alert me and my brothers, but by the time we had arrived, it was gone."

_Kronos is back, Kronos is back, Kronos is back..._

Poseidon urged us not to focus on that, and I tried not to, but in the back of my mind, it was always there.

We also discussed tactics. Poseidon could, to some extent, detect where Percy was in his realm. He knew he was somewhere off the coast of Japan, in the Pacific Ocean, but anything more detailed was fuzzy, like static on an old television screen. This made him very frustrated, and subconsciously I held onto my seat, lest he start another earthquake like the one that destroyed our house. There was only one well-known underwater geological feature in that area. The Mariana Trench.

Poseidon, however, shot down this idea. "Why would Kronos pick the easiest place in the world for me to find to store my son?" he asked, in what was evidently a rhetorical question. "No, he must be somewhere else."

But I had a feeling I was right, and I won't relent until an exasperated Sea God finally relented and would grant us the ability to go down, all the way to the bottom of the trench.

"Tomorrow, though," he said firmly, ignoring me when I protested. "I have been more than giving to the three of you. On this I will not budge. You three are half mortal, no matter what you feel; you need sleep." He smiled briefly, and he looked so heart-breakingly like Percy that a hole ripped through my chest.

I had read _New Moon, _and quite frankly thought that Bella going to pieces because her vampire dumped her was ridiculous. And I still do. But now, I realise that the pain the author described through the passages, as though a part of you had been torn out, leaving painful, ragged edges, is true. Because that is what I felt. And it damn near killed me.

All that kept me going was the fact that we had a plan to find him, and that I _would_ find him, and I would hold him in my arms again, even if it _did _killed me.

So, we bade farewell to Poseidon, who promised to devote as much of his kingdom as he could to finding his only human son. The beautiful woman lead us back up to the beach, and after making sure there was no one around who would question why we emerged from the water perfectly dry, we walking back onto dry land.

Thalia was behind me, but Nico was a little in front. I could see the beginnings of a bruise on the side of his face, and I suddenly felt remorse.

I ran to him and hugged him. He was taller than me now, and I buried my face in his neck.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I don't know what came over me."

He hesitantly patted me on the back. "It's okay," he said. "I know you were under a lot of stress. But now you've spoiled my good looks!"

I broke apart and stared at him. He was pouting again. And that combined with what he just said had me laughing. I don't know why, probably stress and nerves, but I just couldn't stop.

Then I remembered what I was doing tomorrow, and sobered up immediately. Not from alcohol, I hadn't touched that since my eighteenth birthday, but from the feelings of happiness I felt I had no right to have.

Thalia, who had been wearing a smile, frowned when I stopped laughing, putting her arm around me.

"Don't worry," she said. "We'll find him. Between us and the God of the Sea, how could we not?"

I allowed myself one brief smile, before my face reformed back into its mask.

"That's what I need to keep telling myself," I said, walking back up the beach with the others.

**oOo**

We were about to eat dinner when it happened.

Feeling lighter than I had for a while, I was the one who elected to cook for the night. I'd decided on something simple; pasta with a chunky tomato sauce. I stirred mince through it, sprinkled it with parmesan, and viola, easy dinner.

Rachel was sitting at the end of the table, her hair messed and eyes sleepy because she just woke up. Nico sat on the left side, facing Thalia who was on the other.

I placed the dish in the middle of table and sat down opposite of Rachel.

We sat there in silence for maybe a minute, absorbing what we'd done for the day, before Nico reached for the ladle.

I stared at him.

"What?" he asked. "I'm hungry. Besides, you hit me today. I get first dibs."

I shrugged, not caring either way, and looked away. However, when the ladle clattered to the table, flecks of tomato sauce hitting my cheek, I looked back with alarm.

Nico had his head in his hands, teeth gritted, and his body was shaking.

"Nico?" Thalia asked, as I sat frozen. "Nico!"

She pushed out her chair and rushed to the other side of the table, and put her hands on his shoulders.

"What's wrong?" she asked, urgently. "Are you okay?"

But he obviously wasn't okay. Tears glinted in his eyes as stopped shaking, and finally straightened.

"He's dead." Nico's voice was flat and unemotional, all traces of humour gone. "He's in the Fields of Asphodel, waiting to be judged."

And that was when my world shattered.

**oOo**

How long I had been there for, I didn't know. The chains that still bound me wouldn't even rattle, let alone break.

I didn't seem to be hungry, or hadn't been down here long enough to get hungry, but my torment was constant.

I missed Annabeth, more than ever. Kronos had allowed me small, fleeting glimpses of her, not enough to gage how she was truly feeling. I liked to think that she missed me, though. Gods know I missed her...

"My dear Perceus!" said the voice that I loathed from behind me. "Good to see you again."

I remained silent, the only form of defiance that I could employ at the moment.

Kronos ploughed on in his smooth voice. "I have a treat for you. More than a glimpse of your _lover._" He spat the last word, as though he was incapable of understanding love. Which he probably was.

He pointed at the water in front of me. It glowed, forming a scene.

"She thinks you're dead," Kronos said. "That stupid Nico fell right into my clutches."

I remained silent, though my heart was aching. I couldn't find it within myself to care how girly that sounded. It was true.

It showed a beach in twilight. There was no one in sight, except for three figures; Thalia, Nico and Annabeth.

Thalia was standing off to the side, a smile on her face, which puzzled me, because I probably wouldn't be laughing if she died. However, she only caught my attention for a second, because there was something more pressing to focus on.

In the middle of the shot, stood Annabeth. She was very close to Nico, their bodies almost touching, but that didn't faze me for more than a second. What fazed me was her facial expression.

Her eyes were shining, her head thrown back, beautiful hair trailing down her back. She was laughing, obviously happy.

_She's happy I am dead._

And something inside me hardened.

**oOo**

It was dark in the apartment, and quiet too, the only sound the faint noises of Annabeth through the walls.

Nico was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. He couldn't believe that his friend was in the Underworld. But he was. Nico could feel it.

Suddenly, he went rigid, his eyes rolling back in his head. A grey smoke poured from his mouth, somewhat assembling in the air in front of his body.

It assumed a vaguely human shape, gave a spinechilling laugh and was sucked out the window.

Nico relaxed and settled into sleep.

**That's it. Not a lot more to say, except I need more RPers on my forum. **

**-sighs-**

**Anyway, this is chapter six, and, well, I hope you enjoyed. **


	7. Chapter 7

**-blinks-**

**Wow. Forty reviews. I'm shocked. Not to mention pleased. :)**

**Here's the deal: We get to 55 reviews and I post two chapters at the same time.**

**Oh, the memory that Percy was shown where Annabeth was laughing was when Nico made his comment about his looks. Kronos simply took it out of context. **

_Thalia Grace's house. Six months later._

It was quiet in the house at the end of the street, the owner out working. The sunlight streamed in through the open windows, the owner trying to bring more happiness into a house where happiness was in short supply.

On the kitchen counter sat two bottles of depression-pills, one empty, the other half-full. The one who popped these pills like they were lollies was still in bed, tossing from the constant nightmares that plagued her when she slept. Not that she slept much anymore. Or did anything except mope.

Thalia had tried to help her friend, tried to help her get a job, get on with life. But she couldn't, couldn't move passed what had transpired six months ago. She had lost the love of her life, and she had lost the will to live.

_They were on the beach. It was sunset and Annabeth was happy again. He was there, and it was all okay. Then she was falling, the beach and the light and _him _dissolving into an oppressive darkness that strangled her, slowly as the cold worked its way into her chest, suffocating and freezing her... _

She woke up, gasping, fingers clawing at the bed sheets tangled around her legs. There were tears in her eyes, tears of anger, sadness and most of all, hopelessness. The only time she was happy was in her dreams.

Annabeth was dangerously closing to acting so that she could dream forever.

**O oOo O**

Thalia walked into the house, dropping the briefcase that she loathed in the entrance. She was thinking about Annabeth, worrying, actually, as usual. Worrying that she hadn't done enough to help her, worrying that someday Annabeth would try to end her misery.

Thalia had never seen Annabeth like this before. Even when Luke had died, she hadn't acted like this, like the world had ended.

She walked into the kitchen, which was virtually undisturbed, except for an empty pill bottle on the floor. Thalia frowned and picked it up.

Still holding it, she went up the stairs, stopping at the first door on the right. Annabeth's room. Since Annabeth had had her house destroyed, and was unable to take care of herself anyway, Thalia had moved her into her house, partly out of sympathy, partly because she wanted to keep an eye on her.

It was still dark inside the room, the sunset and heavy curtain ensuring that no light had entered.

Thalia frowned and crossed to the windows, opening the curtains. The light was still dim, but Annabeth winced and buried her face in a pillow.

"Annabeth," Thalia said, sitting on the edge of a bed. "How many pills did you have today?"

It was hard, but she gathered her thoughts together enough to answer.

"I don't know?" she said, vaguely.

Thalia sighed, and patted Annabeth on the leg. She was so thin. She used to be slim before, but now her bones were clearly defined. So, Thalia made a decision.

"Get up," she said, switching on the electric light.

"Turn it off," Annabeth said, hiding under the covers.

"No," Thalia said firmly. "It's been nearly six months since you've been outside the house. You are coming with me, even if I have to force you." It looked like she did. And Thalia did something she wasn't proud of. It was necessary, though.

"Do you think Percy would be happy?" she said, uttering the name that was forbidden in Annabeth's presence. "Proud of the way you're handling yourself?" Annabeth began to cry, but Thalia ignored her, and ignored the painful feeling of hurting her friend. "Get up, Wise Girl. You need to start living again. For him." Her voice became softer in the last part.

Annabeth's eyes peeked out from under the sheets, grey, wide and uncertain.

"Do you think?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"Yes," Thalia said. "I think. Now, come on. There's somewhere I want to take you."

And that was how Annabeth found herself in Thalia's car, out of the house for the first time in a long time.

"Where are we going?" she asked, marvelling at how different her voice sounded. It was so small, and fragile.

"_We _are going to eat," Thalia said, pulling up at a McDonalds. "And you are going to eat _all of it._"

"But I'm not really hungry," Annabeth protested, while Thalia glared at her.

"Too bad. You're so thin it's got to be bad for your health. You are eating whether you want to or not."

Not really wanted to disappoint Thalia, who even Annabeth recognized was bending over backwards to help her, Annabeth did eat, more than she had for ages. Not that she had any choice in the matter, with Thalia scrutinizing her every move, even going to the bathroom with her to make sure she wouldn't throw it back up again.

The light was almost gone when they got in the car again, heading away from the McDonalds. Though she didn't ask, Annabeth was curious about where Thalia was taking her.

It was only a short trip, and Thalia parked, opening the door and getting out. The smell of the sea breeze hit Annabeth in the face and brought tears to her eyes.

They were standing on a beach, like the one where they had contacted Poseidon such a long six months ago. The water sparkled in the dying light, and the waves gently lapped the beach. It was beautiful, and heart-breaking.

Annabeth could remember going with Percy to the beach a while back. There hadn't been any romance, really, back then, but it was nice, and it made Annabeth pine for him more than ever.

"How could you take me here?" Annabeth asked Thalia, tears running down her cheeks. "How could you?"

"Because you need to heal," Thalia said firmly, though there was sadness in her eyes. "You need to move on."

"But I don't want to move on," Annabeth wailed, rather loudly, drawing looks from the others on the beach, few though they were.

Thalia simply hugged her, and Annabeth cried into her shoulder. How long they stood there, they didn't know. It was dark when Annabeth straightened.

"He would want me to be happy," she said, finally understanding. "He would want me to... to move on."

Thalia nodded, relief etched on her face.

"He would," she said. "Now, are you going to get your life back on track?"

Annabeth nodded uncertainly.

"This would mean no more pills," Thalia said, making sure that Annabeth understood. "I'm going to tip them down the drain when I get home."

"I—I'll do it," Annabeth said, combing her hair out of her eyes. "And it might be nice to see sunlight again."

Thalia laughed a little. "Exactly," she said.

Annabeth smiled, and though she didn't want to admit it, she felt a little better. Certainly not back to normal, but a little better.

**EDIT: I now have a formspring. Go there. Link's on my profile.**


	8. Chapter 8

**The **_**characters**_** were quite happy that they've been left to their own devices and not being forced into a plot the **_**author**_** thought up for an entire two weeks. Alas, the **_**author **_**is an asshole, and insists on bending the **_**characters **_**to his will. The **_**characters**_** of course mutely protest. **

**Beachwood Avenue. Four years later.**

I stared at my reflection in the mirror. Long straight blonde hair, serious grey eyes. I wasn't so skinny anymore, and had managed to get on with my life. I could even think about Percy again, which took a long time.

In all outer respects, I was back to normal. I had a husband, and I was five months pregnant. I had a job at an advertisement agency, where I made a decent amount of money for work I didn't find particularly strenuous.

I had a pet cat, a new house, and I had put the other side of myself behind me. It was a good thing that my mother was Wisdom; there were no outwards signs. I couldn't control the wind, water or sun. Not plants, fire or animals.

I was fine, and I was getting on with my life. And I tried to cling to it, desperately. I refused to let myself think about what happened before; I just wasn't at the point yet. As if they were recognizing my pain, monsters rarely ever attacked me. I was actually leading a relatively normal life.

Too bad that had to change.

I placed the hairbrush down on the vanity and walked out of the bathroom, checking the clock on the kitchen wall. I still had five minutes.

Grabbing a roll from the basket on the bench, I spread it lightly with cream cheese, munching it as I walked out of the house. I locked the door and walked to my car, which was parked on the street.

I pulled away from the kerb, towards the agency.

Once I was there, I was greeted with a whirlwind of papers, telephones and computers. Since I had thrown myself single-mindedly into my work, I had become actually quite important. Maybe they should advertise that on self-help books. _There's nothing better for your productivity than having your boyfriend killed by the Titan Lord of Time! _

I sat down in front of the computer in my office. This was the one personal effect in there. The computer from my old house. I had it fixed with a new screen, and then installed here. It reminded me that I once had other plans for my life.

The next few hours flew by as I worked feverishly for the new advertisement campaign for Starbucks. I actually didn't like Starbucks, but they were paying the company a _huge _amount of money, and this was one of the biggest clients we'd ever had.

I walked to the foyer, intent on a cup of coffee. I stood impatiently at the old machine as it spewed black sludge into a cup and then tried to make it redeemable with milk.

I sighed. Maybe Starbucks wasn't so bad. Walking back up to the office, I stared into the coffee.

What I saw made me drop the cup. As the coffee spilled down the stairs, staining the white with black-brown, I dropped to my knees.

I saw him in the cup of coffee, an exact likeness. And because I wasn't prepared for it, it had shocked me. I sat on my knees for another five minutes, wondering why my mind had picked today to give me visions, before I stood up, wiped my hands on my pants, which were thankfully black, and walked away. It was dishonest, but I didn't really want to explain why I'd dropped it.

I made it back to my office without incident and sat down at my computer, breathing heavily. The lights on my phone next to my keyboard were flashing, so I answered it to avoid thinking about what had just happened.

"Hey Brad," I said, thanking the gods for the immanent distraction.

"Hey darling," said the voice on the other end. "Just wanted to know whether you've decided anything for dinner tonight, since I've finished work."

Wishing it was it was an issue that would require a more lengthy conversation, I told him that I hadn't.

We talked for a little longer and then I folded the phone, hanging up. I liked Brad, maybe even loved him, but I just couldn't give a hundred percent. Maybe I could one day, but not now. Our relationship seemed to be going downhill, and it was all I could do not to be swept away and drowned in the current.

Brad was a son of one of the five wind Gods, the North one, I think. Because his potential power was split by five, he wasn't that powerful, so he could get away from the monster and mythology as well. We were happy together. Not perfect, but happy. And that's about all I could really look forward to.

At six o'clock, I headed home, pulling out of the company's underground parking lot and into the dying grey light. I thought about my day as I drove, especially about what had happened with the coffee. I thought more and more about it, until I couldn't stand it anymore, swinging the wheel as I took the next exit off the highway. It was cloudy as I drove off the exit ramp and onto the road leading to the beach, a few raindrops splattering off the windshield.

I felt terrible, the previous four years condensing together and crashing down on me, threatening to drown me in anger, sadness, and loneliness. I gasped as I held onto the steering wheel, and in some small part of my brain I wondered if that was what it was like to have a panic attack, and if so, should I really be driving? But it was pushed back by the torrent of other emotions that made me grip the steering wheel so hard my hands turned white.

I cut across three lanes of traffic, cars honking as I went onto the flyover and then off again, turning without indicating into the car park near the beach.

I parked it, leaving the ignition still running as I fumbled with the seatbelt, finally unclicking it and opening the door.

Without bothering to close it, I ran to the beach, sinking down into the sand and crying, ignoring the people around me as they stared concernedly.

I cried and cried, more than I had for years, cried for everything I had lost, and gained. It had started to rain, stinging drops splashing against my back as I burrowed into the sand, tears still streaming down my cheeks.

I don't know how long it took for the last tear to fall, but I was soaked and it was dark. I had thought visiting the place would make me feel better, but it hadn't. Instead, it felt like the hole in my chest had appeared again.

Wiping my eyes, I stood up and tottered over to the car, plonking on the seat and mindless of the sand I was getting all over the upholstery.

I closed the door, and put it into gear, headlights cutting swathes in the darkness as I backed out of the car park and onto the road.

To distract my mind, I thought of ways I was going to have to lie to Brad about this. It worked well, and occupied me all the way to my house.

**OoO**

Cool eyes watched the small white car as it pulled away from parking lot and onto the road. The owner stepped out of the surf, relieved to be free of the water it had been captivated in for so long.

**Do not****, under any circumstances, ****review just to tell me to update****. Because frankly, it just pisses me off. Other than that, thanks for your continued support. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter...uh...what chapter is it now?**

**

* * *

**

The official story was I had taken a swim after work. At least, that was what I told Brad as he peered concernedly at me when I stumbled into the door, sandy and dripping.

"Hey," he said, wrapping his arms around me. "I was getting worried. It's seven already."

I nodded mutely. I felt dead inside; which I knew was stupid, but I just couldn't help it.

"Well," he said, wiping his sandy palms together and smiling good-naturedly. "If you wanna take a shower, I left a piece of pie in the oven. I'm going to finish off my work, and we'll watch a movie or something after, if that's okay with you?"

I nodded again, and he smiled and disappeared through the arch to the living room.

I walked upstairs, mechanically, and stripped, tossing the clothes in the hamper and turning the shower knob on as the blast of hot water hit me in the back.

I leant against the wall, as I angled the shower head to hit me between the shoulder blades. I sighed and just stood there, not thinking, loosing myself. It was before the water ran cold and I started shiver uncontrollably that I turned the shower off.

I dressed and ate, mindful that my unborn child needed to be healthy, even if I didn't want to be.

"Hey, Brad?" I asked, leaning against the arch and looking at him. "Sorry, but I'm not really in the mood for a movie tonight. I'm tired and I just want to go to bed."

He stood and crossed over to me, smiling again; totally oblivious to my unhappiness.

"No, that's okay," he said, bending down to kiss me gently. "I'll be up in maybe a half an hour." He patted my stomach. "Sleep's probably good for the baby," he said, laughing.

I managed a weak smile, before exiting the room, walking up the stairs. I brushed my teeth, and got into bed.

I lay in bed, unmoving, tossing over long after Brad began snoring gently beside me. In fact, the sky outside my window had morphed to grey before I decended into a restless sleep, haunted with images of both purple and sea green eyes.

**

* * *

**

The fragmented thoughts and feelings that were running through him were starting to give him a headache.

_You __**must**__ destroy her._

_But she was the one... why do I have to?_

_You __**must. **__She is an unneeded interference._

_But...I don't want to._

_I don't care what you want! You __**will obey me!**_

_Y...Yes m-master._

_Good boy. Serve me properly and I will reward you._

_Yes master._

He crawled from the surf, hair plastered against his forehead. He'd been under the ocean so long that he'd forgotten how to walk. As such, he stumbled up the beach, keeping low to the ground as he reoriented himself on dry land.

_Now, listen to me very carefully..._

He cocked his head to one side, listening to the voice only he could hear. He nodded once, and set off in a specific direction, slowly getting used to the legs that moved so uncoordinatedly beneath him. The sand gave way beneath him, and he began moving with a slight closer to the lithe grace of someone accustom to battle.

Until he tripped over a rock and sprawled over into the parking lot with an _oof_. _Kind of ruined the mood,_ a small part of his mind thought, _but then I'm not really a serious person._

_Fool, _said the voice in his head.

He walked up the parking lot, and onto the sidewalk, travelling along the beach front. There was a car parked a couple hundred meters ahead, just like the voice said there would be. Beige and inconspicuous, he touched the door handle and it clicked open.

The inside was not so nice; rotted seating with stains all over the upholstery. He recoiled from it.

_Get in, boy. It's not going to hurt you. _

A small amount of salt water flowed over the seat, freezing itself and creating a thin layer of ice over it.

He got in, and touched the ignition slot. It started up, the headlights beaming out into the ocean.

_Well don't just sit there, fool. Start it up._

He placed his hands gingerly on the wheel, and a sheet of ice encased it too. He pulled away from the kerb, grazing the rear of the car with a post.

He drove off, the voice in his head muttering instructions mixed with curses as he learned—slowly—to drive.

* * *

The car swung into the street, the driver driving slowly and carefully, keeping to the left side nearly perfectly. He stopped the car the headlights dimming and the engine shutting off.

All was quiet on the street, not even a barking dog to relieve the silence that seemed to press down on the cold air.

The door opened, and then closed, as he walked across the silent road to the house with the white picket fencing.

_We used to live in a house. Didn't we..? _he paused, frowning at the scattered memories.

_Bah, just hurry up, you fool, _said the ever present and ever angry voice.

He walked, unwillingly, up the path to the house, skirting around the house to the back window. A lattice of roses wound up the wall to the back window.

_How convenient, _the voice nearly purred in his head. _Scale it._

The part of him that once loathed overt physical activity when it wasn't required groaned, but he was forced to ignore it, and quickly scaled the trellis, climbing to the top and swinging around so that he could look in the window.

It was dark inside, the only light from the moon, which feel upon two figures. The first was flat on his back, fast asleep.

The second was facing the man, blond hair pulled up into a neat ponytail and slight figure wrapped in a bedsheet. Annabeth.

_Good...good, _the voice said, pleased for once. _Open the window and do the job._

_I don't want to. _He was resolute.

_You __**must!**_The voice screech, making him wince. _Do it, now! Or I will take control and_ _**do it myself!**_

_No_! He screamed at the voice. _I won't do it. We've been through so much together. I won't do it._

_Augh! _The inarticulate scream of rage was followed by a curious light-headed feeling, and his consciousness was locked away inside his mind. The master of his body relished control, sliding the window open silently.

From his pocket, the master grabbed a gun, an ugly bulbous silencer attached.

_When you want something done right, you have to do it yourself, _the master thought smugly as Percy protested, a prisoner of his own body. Kronos himself pointed Percy's hand, along with the gun, at the sleeping figure.

He aimed once, and fired.

* * *

**I have Twitter now—**https:/ twitter. com /NovemberRising— **(remove the spaces) where I will post snippets of my stories, so follow me and maybe my non-updating won't be so unbearable. :P**

**Reviews are good. :)**


	10. Chapter 10

_No..._

His hand twitched, ever so slightly, and the shot went wide, scything through the glass and into the man's body.

He barely felt the nick of the glass as it rained down onto the window sill and his head. He didn't notice the sticky blood trailing down his forehead as he crashed to the ground, ripping his hands open on the trellis.

_You...Augghh! _The voice inside his head, now only a voice again, trailed off in inarticulate rage, almost masking the pained howl that filled the bedroom.

There were lights on in the window now, and Percy ran, out the yard, across the street, and into the opposite house's backyard, leaping over the fence like a prized Olympic runner.

Percy didn't even have time to act surprised at his newly found strength and speed, instead concentrating on getting further and further from the house.

_You fool, you imbecile! She is an unnecessary loose end! Now they will be monitoring her more than ever, and it will be __**all your fault!**_

_Yeah, yeah, _Percy's inner thoughts contained hints of stubbornness. And if there was one thing Kronos couldn't afford, it was insubordination.

Percy stopped in the middle of a deserted lot, screaming at the images that were flashing their way through his head, all conjured up by Kronos.

This went on for ten minutes before the boy collapsed, shaking.

_Will you obey me now, Perseus? _came the trailing voice.

_Y-yes, master, _he replied, broken by the images he saw.

_Very good... _Kronos continued, a slight tone of smugness in his mental voice. _Now, we must hasten away. And do not fail me in the future; the consequences of disobedience will be swift and harsh._

_Yes master._

He sprinted off, out of the lot, and towards the industrial district.

Kronos insulated his mind from his young slave's.

He will have to be changed_, Kronos thought, grinning as though he was corporal. _But I can easily arrange that_. By the time I'm done with him, he'll have no qualms about destroying her. Quite the opposite, in fact._

* * *

There was a dull thump, and something wet hit my back. I jumped out of bed, spinning around.

There was blood everywhere. Oh my gods. So much blood. Brad howled in pain, and the blood gushed in sheets down his back, onto the bed.

I dived for my phone on the bedside table, fingers scrabbling to open it and dial the number.

I pressed it to my ear, taking the steps two at a time and tripping over at the bottom landing, the phone skidding out of my hand across the hall runner.

I jumped to it, picking it back up and pressing it to my ear.

"Fire, police or ambulance..." the voice asked, mechanically.

"Ambulance!" I shouted, running to the kitchen. "And the police, too!"

I was put on the line with an actual human this time.

"Hello," the voice was pleasant but urgent. "Can you please tell me the nature of your call?"

"My husband! He's been shot!" I yelled into the phone, my voice strained and frantic.

"Where was he shot, and where are you?" asked the voice.

"He was hit in the shoulder, I think. I'm at my house." I garbled out the address and she instructed me to keep on the line.

She had me warm up a towel and go back up the stairs to Brad, rolling him on his stomach and trying to staunch the flow of blood.

I could hear the emergency vehicles outside; their sirens piercing the air.

_Please, please, please hurry up... _I thought, frantically.

I heard the door burst open downstairs, and thought that I should have unlocked it it for them.

Then they were in the room, and I was shoved aside, losing my balance and falling, cutting my hand on broken glass.

I stood back up, huddled in the corner, crying, before someone came over to me.

I flinched, but they put a blanket around me, taking me downstairs and into the kitchen.

The woman had kind eyes, the irises a curious shade of amber. She was dressed in an EMT's uniform.

"Here, let's get you warmed up," she said, and I suddenly realised that I was shivering.

There was an old fashioned stove on one side of the kitchen, and the woman snapped her fingers whist pointing towards it.

It flared up.

"Hestia?" I asked, weakly.

She smiled. "Good guess."

She came and sat by me again, rubbing her hands against my shoulders. The warmth began to envelop me, and soon I felt as good as I could in this set of circumstances.

"The council wants to see you," she said, looking me in the eyes. Her eyes slowly returned to their warm fire from the unnatural amber colour. "Three days from now. On exactly midday. Your husband will survive," she said, reassuringly. "But we have some information about Percy. I think you will find it distressing." She paused. "I'm sorry we could not be more help to you and Percy," she said, hesitantly but sincerely.

Then she disappeared, and I was left staring at the roaring flames as my husband was rushed down the stairs to the ambulance waiting expectantly outside.

* * *

Kronos was happy. Well, as close as he could get to it.

They were in a mildewed apartment on the edge of an abandoned industrial lot. The staircases were rickety, the building rocked and creaked, and shreds of yellow cordon-off tape whipped around the outside of the building, trailing in through broken windows and gaps in the building like monstrous worms.

Percy was made to move into what passed as the living room. Grey walls, grey carpet and, oddly, an ornate golden throne, which was the only piece of furniture in the room. He sat in it, and Kronos assumed his corporal form.

Smiling, he faced Percy, placing his hands on Percy's arms.

Percy struggled against the Lord of Time, but was no match, and as Kronos started to talk in Ancient Greek, the words spoken with a lilting grace, his struggles grew weaker and weaker until they stopped altogether, and he stared blankly at Kronos.

Kronos knelt there for hours, muttering words that hissed in the air around the throne. Percy's eyes dulled, and his expression slackened.

"...And you will obey my will, always," Kronos finished.

The air crackled and hissed, and a bold of lightening hit the building, as though Zeus himself was trying to destroy the curse that was being put upon his nephew.

Percy sat there, staring into space, a blank expression on his face.

His eyes slowly—ever so slowly—changed colours, from sea-green, to a deep and cruel black.

* * *

**Just a reminder of my Twitter—**https:/ twitter. com /NovemberRising (remove spaces).


	11. Chapter 11

I sat anxiously huddled in the waiting-room of the hospital. Doctors bustled in and out of the double operating-theatre doors, but no one had any news for me.

To take my mind off of who had shot my husband and why, I thought about my chance meeting with Hestia and what it meant.

_Something's happened, something to do with… Percy. _I grimaced at the name. _I don't love him, I don't love him, and it's been four years and I don't love him. _

A doctor interrupted her failing mental battle. He had honey blond hair, spiked around his head in a halo, and intelligent blue eyes. He was quite young, with tanned skin and a white lab coat.

He had blood splattered along the coat, and he looked tired. He rubbed his eyes and looked around the room.

"Annabeth Sebel?" he asked, scanning the room for me.

I looked up from the magazine I wasn't really reading. "Yes?" I asked, worried.

The doctor came over to me and led me in to the corridor. There weren't as many people here, just nurses in crisp white uniforms, scurrying around, helping the sick.

"Your husband is alive," said the doctor, whose nameplate read 'Dr Alderney'. "They managed to get the bullet out of the wound, and they've stopped the blood flow. However, the bullet tore through his right shoulder like it was rice paper." The man ran a hand through his spiky hair. "I'm afraid that your husband may lose the use of his right arm. We can't know for sure, but we think it's highly likely at this time." He paused. "I'm sorry."

_I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry… Like he's dead. _

"Can I see him?" I asked, looking over Dr Alderney's shoulder, down the hallway.

"Absolutely," he said, gesturing me to follow him. He led through the hall, up another flight of stairs, and into a different hallway. This one had a blue-green carpet, and plain white walls. It was very modern, and looked brand new. Doors made of a light, shiny wood dotted the hallway walls, each even spaced. Dr Alderney led me past the nurse's station, which was bustling with nurses drinking coffee, filling out forms and tapping away on computers, and down the hall, stopped in front of number _8_.

"This is your husband's room," he said, opening the door. "He's stable, so he should be fine. However, if you do need anything, press the call button on the headboard. He clapped his hands together.

"We're doing all we can for your husband," he said, peering down at me. "Just sit tight, for the moment. The future may not be as grim as it seems."

I nodded, and entered the room, shutting the door behind me. Brad was lying in bed, face pale, but sleeping peacefully. I sighed in relief. There was nothing outwardly wrong with him, besides the fact that his right arm was bandaged and held up at an awkward angle.

_Thank gods he isn't dead, _I thought. _I don't think I could handle another dead lover._

I plopped down on the chair next to him, and stared at his limp form. How long I sat there for, mulling things over, I didn't know. Eventually, my head tilted back, and I fell into a dreamless sleep which, for once, was haunted by nothing.

"Annabeth?" My name was whispered in the air around me. "Is that you?"

I blinked open my eyes. I mustn't have been asleep for long, because it was still dark outside the window. The digital clock on the table beside the bed read _4:21am. _

"Yes, it is." I leaned forward and clasped Brad's left hand as he stared up at me.

"Thank you for coming," he whispered, smiling slightly at me.

"Of course I came," I said to him, smiling in return. "Would you expect anything less?"

"I suppose not," he said, trying to sit up, but failing because of the awkward position of his arm. "What happened to me?"

I bit my lip, wondering whether to tell him or not. I settled on the partial truth. "You were shot," I said, planning out my explanation in my head. "In the right shoulder. But you're stable now, and you're not in any danger of dying. They have to run some more tests, so in the meantime, you're not to get out of bed, and you're not to move, okay?"

He grinned. "Yes Doctor Annabeth," he said, teasing me. I smiled in return.

"I'm glad you're alive," I said, sincerely, reaching down the brush the hair from his forehead.

"So am I," he said, closing his eyes again. "Is there any water in the room?" he asked, his eyes still closed. "I'm quite thirsty."

"Uh…" I looked around. The room was quite nice, with a small table with a vase of flowers on it in the corner, a couple of chairs crammed around it, and a wardrobe. There was no water, however. "No, sorry, there isn't." I remembered the water cooler in the waiting room.

"There's a water cooler in the waiting room, I'll go get you a glass, all right?" I said to him, standing up. "I'll be right back."

"Thank you," he said, rolling over to watch me go.

I shut the door gently behind me, walking back down the hallway. It was strangely deserted, with no hint of any living people present. I failed to notice this until it was too late, though, simply putting it down to the early hour.

The nurse's station was similarly deserted, but I came up with a logical excuse, ignoring the worry beginning to grown inside me, like a malignant tumour. I passed it, and went down the stairs into the next corridor, which led all the way into the reception area.

It was utterly deserted, the reception station quiet and the chairs unattended. Still, there was the water cooler, humming gently in the corner. I crossed to it, shivering in the air conditioned air. I pulled a plastic cup from the holder, flicking the tap on as the cold water gushed out into the cup. When it was full, I removed my finger, standing up and turning to go back up the stairs.

I didn't get that far, however.

The water cooler erupted behind me, spewing water through the ruptured container. I gasped in shock and turned around, dropping my cup. The water was free-falling towards the floor when it was sucked up by a mysterious force that held the swirling ball of water up in the air, two and a half meters off the ground.

I watched it in shock, thinking, _There is only one person I know who can manipulate water like that._

There he was. Leaning against the doorframe, he was staring at me. I couldn't see him properly, but I could see that he had gotten taller still, and that his black hair fell to his neck.

"Percy," I breathed out, taking a step towards him. "You, you survived—"

He snapped his fingers, and the water hurdled after me, swooping down like a demented magpie. It hit my head and I screamed, stumbling slightly. The water stopped rushing, flowing smoothly down my form as it encased me in a millimetre thick coat.

_I can't breathe. _I wrestled with the water, trying to bat it away from my mouth, as I inched forward to him.

_He wants to kill me, _I thought with dire desperation, the lack of oxygen making me faint. _He wants me to suffocate, to die._

_Oh, Percy, what's happened to you?_

* * *

**I have recently discovered my new favourite thing: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. It may or may not have been why it took me so long to update. In addition, I am not in my home state, and my internet is cut down to one hour a day. Just thought you should know. **


	12. Chapter 12

_**Eh ma gawd. **_**An almost-regular update! Quick, **_**grabbbbbbit!**_

**I am back from my holiday, though I hope to be back soon, and have… five weeks of school left. Class of 2010, **_**ftw!**_

**Well, enjoy.**

_A bit of trivia:_

_This story has 101 reviews, far more than I expected it to when I first published it. This is my third PJO story published, and my seventh overall. It has ten thousand and three hits, fifty-four favourites, and fifty-five story alerts. It has also been added to two C2s, and is my third most successful story ever, and my second on this account. _

_Thank you, each and every one of you, for such an enormous effort. It makes my day, time and time again._

* * *

I fell to the floor, clawing at the ground, trying to approach the man who was trying to kill me. It sounded weird inside the bubble, noises distorted and my head swimming with a lack of oxygen. The water swirled around, un-relenting, and I was hoping that if I touched him, it would somehow help me.

As such, I was crawling along the dull carpet towards Percy. He looked at me, coldly, not a trace of pity or compassion in his coal-black eyes. He was absolutely content to watch me suffocate.

I touched something. His shoe. He didn't move as I felt up to his ankle, which was as cold as ice. He was absolutely motionless, and any hope I had for him to recognize my touch flickered and went out. So, I did the only thing I could.

I pinched him.

"Yeah-ow!" he said, jerking away and stumbling back. It was only a few seconds of distraction, but it was enough. The water flowed away from my face, sinking in to my shirt and dripping onto the foor.

Years of battle reflexes saved me as I dived behind the reception desk. Half a second later, a chair crashed into the wall behind me, followed by another.

"Come back here," he screamed, and it was two voices talking, one dark and menacing, another higher and more human.

There was a door leading to a storeroom behind me. I made for it, standing up for a second in front of it.

He sprung at me, moving incredibly fast, and I dropped to the ground. He smashed into the door, and then through it, leaving a large hole behind. I jumped back over the desk, and ran up, out of the waiting area. An inartuclate howl of rage followed me, and the wall exploded, chunks of masonry smashing through the waiting area. The hospital was going to have to completely re-build it, but that was the least of my problems now.

I ran down the corridor, a golden glow dancing behind me. I spared one look back, and immediately wished I hadn't.

He stood behind me, covered in plaster dust and small shards of stone. There was golden fire spurting out of his fingers, and his eyes were like black holes. He pointed, and a lick of golden fire roared up the corridor after me.

I dove around the corner, and the golden fire hit the wall just centimetres from me. It blasted through, more like an explosion than a flame. The sprinklers came on, and he laughed, a deep, mirthless chuckle behind me. The sprinkler system did nothing to put out the fire, and it was filling the corridor with smoke. Hopefully, this would make me harder to follow, but I had no idea what powers Kronos had given him.

"Someone," I yelled at the ceiling, not at the people who might be in the hospital, but at the higher, more ethereal beings. "Anyone! Help me!"

"Oh, _Annabeth_," said a cold, mocking voice behind me, the twisted tone only barely recognizable as Percy's. "Where are you?"

It was not well known, but originally the hospital had been a great mansion, whose last owner had fallen in to bankruptcy. Instead of pulling it down, the board of directors instead elected to remodel it, which had cost less. The room that Annabeth next stumbled into had originally been a large reception hall. It was also the room that had been least remodelled, as it was used for cases that were not serious enough for a bed upstairs. The room was long, and fairly wide, running down the entire end of the hospital. It was unique in that there was nothing above it except for roof. Huge windows looked out onto the hospital lawns, and all in all, was one of the nicest places there. In fact, the only way to distinguish it as a hospital room were the two rows of beds, one on either side, stretching from one end to the other.

Annabeth slammed the door shut and dived behind a fountain, which was tinkling merrily, the coins in its depths sparkling in the moonlight that came through the high windows.

The doors burst open, flung off their hinges. One sailed over my head, smashing into a bed. The other went through a window, showering the floor with shards of glass.

Percy walked through, the smoke and flames billowing out of the corridor behind him. He looked like an avenging angel, utterly without compassion as he grinned wickedly.

"Don't worry, Annabeth," he said, his voice a gross imitation of worry. "I'll find you."

He blasted with the fire, blowing the beds away. Golden fire swept across the hall, incinerating everything and leaving smoke and scorch marks behind. The windows blew out, and a cold wind whistled in.

All the while, I crouched behind the fountain as it tinkled merrily above me.

"Ah, there you are," he said, stepping into the fountain. Steam swirled around his legs as he called the water up in a vortex above his head. "I told you that you couldn't hide from me. Now," he continued, the water writhing above his head. "To drown you, or smash you to pieces? Decisions, decisions."

He reached my side and dropped down out of the fountain, standing in front of me, still grinning.

"I think I'll drown you," he said, and I accepted my fate. He was stronger, quicker, and better than me. I had no hope.

He was about to hurl the water at me, but faltered, looking up at the fountain.

"_Stop._"

The word was powerful and authoritive, echoing around the hall. The water evaporated, and all fires in the hall immediately went out.

I knew that voice. It was a lot like his son's.

It was Poseidon.

* * *

**More soon.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Moar updates. :)**

**It's not Sunday Morning, but it's pouring. Also, my _ctrl _button is broke. If you caught the song reference in the previous sentence, kudos to you. Tell me, I want to know.**

**In addition, I've put my other stories on hiatus, so that I can focus on this one. I just want it out of the way.**

* * *

Percy snarled.

"Stop." Poseidon's voice rung out again, echoing through the hall. He stepped out of the fountain, and I scrambled backwards along the floor, away from Percy and his father.

Percy stepped backwards, drawing Riptide, the pen cap flashing in the moonlight. Immediately, the bronze sword grew out, and Percy adopted an attack stance.

"Perceus stop," Poseidon said. "This is not what you want."

"Stay away from me, old man." The words gusted from between clenched teeth. "Or I'll rent you in two."

"Perceus," his voice was cold. "Continue to bait me and pay with your life."

"Try it," Percy answered back, equally as coldly.

The roof exploded. No, not just exploded, it disintegrated, the dust flying into the wind that was suddenly roused over the building. The ground began to shake, and cracks appeared in the walls. The various contents of the room rattling like marbles in a barrel. The fountain cracked in two, water spraying out in different directions.

Percy sprung. Like a cat, he rested on the balls of his feet, and pushed off the ground, jumping at his father and one of the most powerful beings in the universe.

Riptide swung down as Percy leaped, and Poseidon bellowed in anger, before sweeping his son away with a swing of his right arm. Percy was thrown against the wall, even more cracks appearing in it, and fell forward, the wall collapsing onto him. Nothing moved from underneath.

Poseidon flashed with intense light, once, before seeming to regain control of himself. He touched the spot on the back of his neck. His fingers came away golden, stained with Ichor, the blood of the gods.

"Come, Annabeth," he said, looking at me. "You must be present at Olympus, immediately."

"But, what about… Percy?" I said, looking at the pile of rubble that the former hero of Olympus had disappeared into.

"He will be dealt with later," Poseidon said, firmly. "Now come, child."

I nodded, not wanting to disobey a god, and suddenly, we were in the throne room of the gods, with all in attendance. Most looked bored, as though this meeting was an unnecessary waste of time. There were others though, like Athena, Apollo and Hermes, who were leaning attentively forward, though Hermes was chatting on his phone.

"My family," Zeus said, looking around the room. "I have called this meeting to determine the fate of Percy Jackson, a demi-god who has fallen under the control of Kronos."

"We know who Peter is," Dionysus muttered, twisting a grapevine around his fingers. "Whether we like him is another matter."

Zeus ignored him. "In light of his recent achievements, I don't believe he should be incinerated. It seems that he was forced into the control of Kronos—"

"How do you know that?" Dionysus said, cutting off Zeus. "Do you have any evidence?"

Ares nodded in agreement beside him, and Athena looked at her father.

"Indeed," she said. "We spared his life once before. Why should we do so a second time? Especially since he has made several threats against my daughter's life, and has joined Kronos. We also don't know if he is really forced into service. And, even if he was, then he may wish to be released. I vote for incineration."

Poseidon spoke, in a tired voice. "Athena, I've told you before. You're not incinerating my son. Your daughter will love who she loves. You cannot change that by barbecuing the unlucky boy. Annabeth will grow to hate you, and that was what started Kronos' rise in the first place. And he very nearly won. It was only Percy who stopped him, in case you have forgotten. In addition, I very highly doubt that my son would willingly join Kronos, and I don't believe he should be killed for his misfortune."

Athena glared at Poseidon. Poseidon stared balefully back. Athena spoke through gritted teeth.

"This has nothing to do with the affection the boy shows for my daughter," she hissed. "This has to do with a half-mortal who nearly changed civilization last time. Who's to say that he won't do the same this time, and pick the wrong choice? If we kill him, Kronos is crippled, and we can set out to destroy him again, this time once and for all."

"I agree with Poseidon," said Hades, earning surprised looks from most in the circle of thrones. His throne was stuck awkwardly on the end of the male side. It was made of black twisted metal, with a single skull set into the top. "The boy has been nothing but useful in the past, and would not pick the wrong path deliberately. We must not let our personal feelings"—he looked at Athena—"get in the way of the truth. The fact is, if we kill him, we become no better than Kronos."

"But even if we are _no better_ than Kronos," Dionysus said silkily, "We will still have removed a great weapon of his. Kronos is willing to kill and maim to achieve what he wants, why shouldn't we?"

Zeus raised his hand as a dozen different voices erupted all over the room. "Enough," he repeated. "Both of you have put forward reasonable arguments. As such, I will put it to a vote. All those who vote we don't kill the boy?"

A number of hands went up, and Zeus raised his own hand. He counted silently, already knowing what was going to happen, and then said, "And all of those who vote that we _do _kill the boy?"

Another number of hands went up, and Zeus counted silently. Finally, he fell silent. I had my face turned away, unable to bear if they voted to kill him.

"We have voted and made a decision," his voice rung out over the throne room, and my worst fears were fufilled. "The vote is seven-six. The boy will be killed."

* * *

**Betcha weren't expecting that. More soon. :D**


	14. Chapter 14

**Personally, I think it's really fucking rude to threaten the author with death threats when you don't like what happened. Just saying. ;)**

I am sorry for the abrupt changes of POV. Personally, I don't believe in telling the readers who's narrating. Published authors don't do it, and I won't either.

_

* * *

_

_In the apartment block, Kronos looked on to the spectacle. There was the pathetic girl, sobbing on the floor, his children and his grand-children, always thinking that they're so high and mighty. But this time, Kronos will be the one that wins._

_He smiled, and closed the connection._

_"Percy," he said, "I have news for you."_

* * *

My world collapsed. Again. Of course, I had suspected they would try to vote for this, for the killing of him—they always did. But never, ever, did I actually imagined it would pass voting. I lay there on the cold stone floor, as above me words were yelled and the almighty gods squabbled amongst themselves about Kronos' most important weapon, and the first man I had ever loved.

I loved Brad. That much was true. But then, I loved Percy too. And if I were forced to choose, then I don't know which one I would. Percy had always made me happy. Brad had too. I was having a child with Brad. But the only reason I could was because Percy was gone. There were so many good points about both, and I couldn't make a decision. Maybe it was better than I would never have the opportunity to do so.

No. That's selfish. And Percy doesn't deserve to die, just because I can't make a decision between them, because he's been forced to do something that he would never, ever do willingly. I was fairly certain he was the one who fired the bullet into Brad. But then, I was also certain that I was the target. And if I was, then something at the last second made him deflect . My thoughts were so confused, but I knew one thing: He was going to die anyway. The council had voted, and they're decision would not be changed. Unless...

"Give me one day," I said, standing up, though my small voice was lost in the roar of the Council as they bickered like two-year-olds.

"That's enough," I said, slightly louder. "I SAID THAT'S ENOUGH!"

The Council fell silent, most of its members glaring at me.

"Give me twenty-four hours," I said. "I'll bring him in, and you can interrogate him. Just... don't kill him. Please." The last word was a whisper.

Most of the gods looked doubtful, but Poseidon was staring at me with something akin to pride.

"Twenty-four hours," I said, looking desperately at Zeus, who was the real decision maker. "Starting when you make the decision. I'll get him back here, and if I don't, you can incinerate him, or whatever else you want to do." My voice was bitter.

He pursed his lip, nodding. "The truth is, the boy has done us a great deal of service. I believe that we should give this girl-" He looked at me.

"Annabeth," I whispered.

"I think we should give this girl, _Annabeth, _the chance to capture Perseus. And as such, this is what I am allowing her to do."

There was another round of protests, but Zeus held up his hand, barely-concealed malice playing around his face. "My decision is final, and no arguments will be entered into."

"Father," said Hermes, snapping the phone shut for once. It immediately started buzzing again, but he ignored it. "The boy is gone from the rubble. He cannot have gone far, but we need to act now."

Zeus nodded.

"Poseidon, you are to help... Annabeth, in her task," he said to his brother. Poseidon nodded in assent. "The rest of you shall go about your normal business. And in twenty-four hours, all shall be decided."

He sat back on the throne, and just like that, the meeting was over. There was babble within the hall once more, but I ignored it. I instead picked myself up from the ground and walked over to the door, letting myself out of the building.

Day had dawned, throwing brilliant light along the colonnades, palaces and gardens that made up the coronet of Mt Olympus, anchored to the sky above the Empire State Building. There were Muses already strumming their musical instruments, minor gods, goddesses and other assorted mythical being strolling around, street vendors trying to sell their various goods, laughter and happiness everywhere.

I hated it. Hated the fact that they were so happy, hated the fact that I had to find Percy in twenty-four—I glanced at my watch—make that twenty-three and a half hours or he'd be dead, and I'd be alone again.

And all of a sudden I crouched over and vomited on the pavement, so suddenly it shocked even me.

"Are you all right?" asked a male voice behind me. I turned. Poseidon was standing next to me, in human form, looking concerned.

"Yes, it's just morning sickness." I'd forgotten all about my baby, but now that came back, too.

"I see. Are you okay?" he asked me.

"I'll be fine," I muttered. "So, how are we going to catch him?"

Poseidon pursed his lips. "It's not going to be easy," he said. "He's very powerful, and well under Kronos' control. I think though, you may be able to get close enough. There will be certain danger to you, but if all goes well, you should be fine. Will you do it?"

"Of course."

"Okay, then. Here's my plan..."

* * *

**More soon. :D**


	15. Chapter 15

**Since I've updated now, it means that I've finished writing this story. :)**

* * *

Poseidon laid down his plan to Annabeth in a café in Lower Manhattan, and Annabeth had to admit it was pretty sensible. Poseidon seemed to be under the impression that if we could get Percy far enough away from Kronos, the enchantment may be weakened, at least enough to determine where Kronos was and how they would be able to defeat him, again.

"So do you understand?" Poseidon asked. In another life, another time, Annabeth would have laughed. The concept of a Greek god sitting in a café in Manhattan, complete with a little red and white striped umbrella, sipping a double espresso, was ridiculous, difficult to comprehend. But there he was, and there she was, so all she could do was nod her head.

Poseidon looked at her gravely. "We'll get him back, I promise," he said, before dissipating into a fresh sea breeze, leaving the people in the café perplexed because there wasn't a sea for miles. And all Annabeth could do was pull out her phone—which she'd thought was broken, but now it seemed fine—and dial Thalia's number.

* * *

Twelve hours later, and Annabeth was back at home, curled up on the couch in front of the television, too wound up to sleep. The television was on, but she wasn't really watching it. Instead, she was mulling over what she had to do in order to get Percy to the gods. It wasn't exactly a complicated plan, but it involved wrecking the house. Again.

"You got any food?"

"I haven't been to the mall this week," said Annabeth. "I had more important things to do than fill up my refridgerator, like worry about my husband who was _shot. _Oh, and don't forget my ex-boyfriend, who happens to be trying to kill me."

"I know sarcasm when I hear it," Nico said, wagging a finger covered with tomato paste at her through the kitchen door. "It's a good thing you have enough here to make a pizza, otherwise I'd be too malnourished to capture Percy."

"You're a pig, Nico. We ate on the way over," Thalia said, sitting on the couch opposite to Annabeth.

"Lies!" Nico said, from inside the kitchen.

Thalia rolled her eyes, and looked at Annabeth. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, even though she was everything but. "I'll be fine. I'm glad that the gods are giving us time. Even if it is short." Her tone was bitter.

Thalia looked at her with a face of sympathy. She stood up, stretched, and walked to Annabeth, before sitting down next to her. "It'll be fine," Thalia said, rubbing soothing circles on Annabeth's leg. Annabeth nodded again.

Nico came back into the living room, with sauce less fingers. "Now that my pizza is cooking, what exactly do I need to do tonight? Does it need the dead? I'm pretty good at summoning them."

Thalia shuddered. "I wish you'd stop doing it in the house. It scares the hell out of me to find a skeleton on the kitchen floor."

Nico shrugged. "It's what I do." He looked at Annabeth. "So, back on track, what do I have to do?"

Annabeth sat up, and turn the television so loud that to hear across the room you'd have to shout. Thalia looked at her questionably.

"So that no one can hear me." Thalia, Nico and Annabeth bent their heads together. "Here's what we're going to do..."

* * *

Percy crossed the road, where he had hidden for most of the day. He'd seen a plain sedan that had pulled up, the two that had gotten out-an olive-skinned man, and a raven-hair woman-and he'd seen that it hadn't left again. No matter, his powers were more than sufficient for the job. Probably just exrta protection for _her. _Too bad it wasn't going to work.

Now that it was dark, and the last light had been extinguished four hours ago, he made his move. He crept over the road and up the drive, silent as a panther and twice as deadly. He stared in through the window at the front of the house. It was totally dark and quiet. He peered in through the window, into the living room. Nico was stretched out on one of the couches, asleep. He was snoring, and there was a puddle of drool on the seat cushion. Percy's lip curled in disdain, but even if they did awake, it would not matter. Percy only had one mission, and it didn't involve Thalia or Nico. With one last look of disgust, he disappeared from the window.

Nico's eyes opened in the gloom of darkness, aware of the fact that his former friend believed him asleep. Time to put that advantage to use. He got up silently, padding through the hall, crouched, and stood outside the door of the bedroom Annabeth was sleeping in. Meanwhile, Thalia melted out of the shadows of the adjoining kitchen, going to stand beside Nico. Thalia looked at him queryingly and Nico answered with a nod, both making no sound at all.

Meanwhile, Percy was at Annabeth's window. He had heard the snores cease from the living room, and despite the fact that Nico could be very well awake, he pushed on. The act would only take a couple of seconds. Instead of a gun or water powers, Percy carried a knife, the celestial bronze black in the pale moonlight that filtered down from the clouds above. The trees in the back yard rustled and whispered as the wind went through them. Percy crouched near the window, and looked inside.

He did not bother finding out whether she was asleep or not; once again, it wouldn't matter. There wasn't anywhere really she could go, and if Poseidon tried to interfere again, he'd kill her and take his chances in the aftermath. Percy had only one sole purpose in the world, and that was the murder of Annabeth Chase.

He slid the window up, the small amounts of water he'd squirted on the hinges preventing the hinges from squeaking. Instead it slid open with a wet hiss, but it was quiet, and quickly lost in the sounds of the night. He angled in through the window, landing quietly on the floor. He then closed the window, the noise and wind of the outside world shut off. He crossed to the bed with the knife, where he could see the sleeping form of the woman he'd tried so hard to kill…

* * *

**Hate me for leaving it there? Too bad. Wait until next Friday. ;D**


	16. Chapter 16

Back in the abandoned tower-block, Kronos was plotting.

On one hand, Percy Jackson was a fool and a danger, and he'd greatly offended Kronos in the past. A large part of Kronos still wanted to kill Percy for that. On the other hand, he was the perfect weapon. Not only was he quick and efficient, he was totally under Kronos' control, and unlike most in that position, was actually _intelligent. _Kronos knew that it would be hard to get another person to do his work like Percy had. And he needed to remove that girl, Annabeth, from the picture. It was possible, though unlikely, that she could trigger residual feelings inside of him, and Kronos couldn't let that happen. The quickest, and probably smartest, thing to do would be to simply send an errant strike of energy astray, and blow up the entire house. But, Kronos was a master manipulator, and he decided that Annabeth had escaped from Percy two times. She wouldn't be so lucky a third.

"Perseus," Kronos said, as the twenty-three-year-old came to stand at the doorway behind him. "I have a job for you," he continued, allowing a rare smile to caress his face.

"Yes, master?" Percy said mechanically.

"You're to finish off that Annabeth girl once and for all," he said, turning and standing up. He felt in his pocket for a celestial bronze knife. "You are to kill her with this, and bring me back her head. I need to see her head, minus her body, before me. Do this, and I will reward you endlessly. Do you get that?"

For a moment, Percy's original personality made a break for it, struggling for the surface, howling at the horrific crime he was going to be forced to commit. But the darkness caught up again, engulfing the errant strays of free will. Percy's throat convulsed once, and then he spoke.

"Yes master," he said, taking the knife and walking out of the room.

Kronos allowed his laughter to shake the already precarious structure.

* * *

Annabeth sighed and rolled over, unable to sleep. She'd gone to see Brad that afternoon, and he was fine. Recovering all the time, they expected him to be out of the hospital in a couple of weeks. It appeared that being half-god helped you heal quicker.

The house was dark, the only light present that which was streaming in through the window. It cast long shadows, and it was freaking Annabeth knowing that somewhere, perhaps even in her own backyard, there was a person who wanted to kill her.

Of course, she'd killed her fair share of monsters—that hadn't gone away when she got older, though the amount had been reduced. But this was different, this one was a friend, or used to be. Someone she used to kill monsters with. Someone who Annabeth would have trusted her life with…

_It's not him, its Kronos. It's not him, its Kronos. It's not him, its Kronos. _She repeated the mantra over and over in her head.

Eventually, she managed to fall into a half sleep, nightmares filling the void. In fact, she was having a particularly nasty one involving Kronos, purple, Percy, and a strudel, when the sound of the window sliding slowly shut woke her up. Her eyes blinked open, and she stared at the wall, where she could see the shadow of a person on the other side of her bed.

_Oh my gods, he's here, in my room. _Annabeth tried to calm her heart—feeling sure that he could hear it—and closed her eyes, hoping he wouldn't notice how tense she was. She was pretty sure he thought she was asleep. She'd just have to hope it stayed that way until the trap could be sprung.

Speaking of which…

_Where are you Nico? _she asked inside her head with a note of despair.

* * *

Nico and Thalia were, in fact, still standing in the shadow of the doorway, barely breathing. They heard the window shut quietly, and not so much heard as _felt _Percy creep around the room, the hair on the back of their necks' standing up.

Thalia looked at Nico, and nodded once. It was time. Too early, and Percy might be able to escape, too late and it would be, well, too late.

Nico nodded back, closed his eyes, and concentrated.

* * *

Percy was almost next to the bed. Annabeth's heart was beating at a furious pace, and he was sure she was awake. Still, it didn't matter. In his mind, the job was already done.

He bent down, knife poised above her side, just about to strike when—

_Rumble._

The ground was shaking. Percy frowned, but pushed on, the knife completing it's deadly arc when—

_Rumble._

Another rumble, so violent that Percy was pushed to the floor.

He growled, knowing he'd walked into a trap, and leapt forward, knife out-stretched.

A spear of rock ripped the carpet to threads, wielded expertly by Nico, and threw Percy to the ground again, before encasing him with solid, impenetrable earth. His last rage-filled howl was cut off abruptly, and the earth encasing Percy sunk back down, leaving a ragged hole in the floor. It was no longer Nico's problem, and he sighed and released the power, the strain giving him a mild headache as always.

"It's done," Nico said to Thalia, and she nodded and smiled, relieved.

"Hopefully they'll be able to prove that he didn't act on his own free will," she said, and then opened the door, going into the room.

"Annabeth? We did it!" Thalia exclaimed, happily. "Annabeth?"

She was silent, not a peep, and Thalia thought perhaps that she was still in shock.

Nico turned the light on, and Thalia gasped.

Percy had hit after all.

Annabeth lay motionless on the bed, a jagged celestial bronze knife hilt sticking out of her side, red blood from the wound soaking the sheets.


	17. Chapter 17

**Next chapter.**

**162 reviews? Holy crap.**

**Think we can get to 200 reviews in the next three chapters?**

**This story is winding down. I am thinking around twenty chapters. This is, of couse, subject to change~**

* * *

I do not own _Percy Jackson and the Olympians, _or _The Lost Heroes Series. _If I did, I would not be living in suburban Queensland.

* * *

If you happened to be watching the back of the house on Beachwood Avenue, you would have been treated to a strange sight, unrolling like a play on a stage. You would have seen a man crawl into a window, in his hand clutched a wickedly sharp knife gleaming in the moonlight. You would have seen the window close, and all would have been silent again.

Five minutes later, you would have seen the ground shake, and you would have seen cracks run up the white painted wall of the house where the window the man climbed in was located. You would have seen the wall disintegrate, showing the bedroom within. If you'd crept closer, you would have seen the man who'd crawled in the window swallowed up by a huge spire of earth. You would have seen two others, a girl and a boy, run into the room and flick on a light. You would have seen the woman on the bed surrounded by crimson blood.

You would have seen the man stoop over her, feeding her something that looked like a golden brownie. You would have seen the girl carefully extract the knife at the same time, and both of them carry her out of the house, into an anonymous sedan that was parked on the street outside. You would have seen them drive away without headlights, rounding the corner at twice the legal limit.

And you would not have been alone.

* * *

Annabeth awoke in the darkness. It was probably better this way, because she had a splitting headache, her side was incredibly sore, and the darkness wrapped around her like a comforting blanket.

She was lying on something soft. What it was, she didn't know, and she didn't care. She just knew that it was soft, and that she would sleep easily on it.

She curled over, hunching in on herself, and closed her eyes.

_The window sliding open. The light footsteps of the intruder. His shadow along the wall. The incredible pain. He'd been caught, but it was too late._

She flung off the bed, eyes open, crying out in fear as panic drove her around the room, trying to find something, anything, to banish the darkness, the darkness that her imagination had made her enemy.

There, on the wall. Something. A protrusion. A light switch, perhaps. She flipped it as though her life depended on it. Maybe it did.

The switch was for the light, and Annabeth breathed a sigh of relief as the chandelier in the centre of the room flickered to life, hundreds of candles erupting into flame.

_Magic._

So wherever she was, it wasn't normal. This hypothesis was also confirmed by her surroundings. She was indeed in a bedroom, though not one she knew. The walls were marble, shot through with gold, cold to touch. The floor was also marble, covered with thin rugs to ward off the chill on one's feet. The bed was large, lying on the side of the room, and there were shuttered windows, blocking out any light.

Annabeth's aches and pains returned along with her conscious thought. No longer driven by the entirely rational fear of her ex-boyfriend, she crossed to the windows, unshuttering them.

It was dark, but the sky and the terrace around her were filled with light. There was laughing, and the tinkling of wine glasses. Gardens and beautiful buildings clung haphazardly to the hill, and Annabeth knew she was in Olympus.

Feeling dizzy, Annabeth crossed the room again and turned off the light. The candles flickered out as though snuffed, shrouding the room in a darkness that was punctured by light and faint noise from outside. Not enough light to fully banish the shadows, but enough to see. Satisfied, Annabeth went over to the bed, climbing in and closing her eyes, turning her back to the wall and letting the calm feeling of finally being safe wash over her.

* * *

A knock on the door woke her.

Her headache had lessened considerably, but her side still hurt, which was strange, considering that when she checked it, there was no physical trace of a wound. She opened her eyes slowly and called out.

"Who is it?"

The door opened, and Thalia stepped inside, closing the door behind her. She was still dressed in clothing from the previous night—or what Annabeth guess was the previous night, though it could be nothing of the sort—which was stained with dark red blood.

Her first question was _meant _to be 'What happened?' However, when her lips form the words, they somehow morphed into 'Did you get him?'

Everyone in the room knew who the _him_ was.

Thalia sat down on the bed next to Annabeth.

"Yep, we did," she said. "He's in a cell beneath the building."

"Why did they put him in a cell?" Annabeth asked, confused. "He hasn't done anything wrong…"

"They decided it would be safer," she said, "Considering he bit one of Poseidon's servants on the arm."

"Oh. Right. So, when are they interrogating him, then?"

"Right now. The curse has lessened a little bit. He hasn't tried to kill anyone yet, though of course, they're not taking any chances. I think that they'll be able to determine what if he is acting on his own free will. It's fairly obvious that he isn't."

Thalia stood up, pulling Annabeth up beside her. "How's your side?" she asked.

Annabeth winced. "It's quite sore, actually. What happened?" If there was one thing Annabeth hated, it was no knowing. It drove her nuts. Probably a trait that was passed on from her mother.

"Percy managed to hit you with that knife, after all," Thalia said. "Nico fed you some ambrosia, and it sustained you long enough to get you here. Apollo did the rest. According to him, the pain will go—very suddenly—in a day or so."

Annabeth nodded. "Where are we going?"

Thalia blinked in surprise. "We're going to see him. Duh."

* * *

**I am deliberately keeping this story at around 1000 words. I prefer to give my readers short, sharp doses twice as often as my other stories' chapters.**

**Not much longer left to go in this story. May I remind you that not all the fates of heroes are happy. I, myself, are going to flip a coin to decided whether this story will have a happy ending or not. Death threats will most likely change my mind to the opposite of what you won't. But don't let that sway you; they amuse me greatly.**

_**November Rising**_


	18. Chapter 18

**In a word: I had writer's block. Deal.**

**Coin has been tossed. Decision revealed… soon.**

* * *

Thalia led me from the room, into a columned walkway. There were plants growing out of baskets that hung from the stone roof. We were on the second floor, and the walkway was rectangular, with bright sunlight flooding down to a courtyard of perfectly mown grass, marble statues, and a fountain of unnaturally blue water tinkling merrily away in the centre.

It was a world away from my life of late. All this sunshine, and gentle noise was nothing like the darkness and silence of my life. It seemed almost unnatural, and that scared me, because it meant I was losing touch with reality.

Thalia led me down a flight of stairs to the bottom floor, before pushing open a door. It led to a street, and I stood blinking in the sunlight as Thalia closed the door behind us. The street was wide and paved in an orderly fashion. Of course it was. I designed it.

We must be on the main street, which led from the entry to Olympus via the elevator in the Empire State Building to the main temple of the Olympians. It had been almost destroyed in Kronos' last uprising, and I was the one who had designed the repairs for it.

The tiles reflected the sun, looking as clean now as the day they were put in. There wasn't any time to admire more of my own work, however, because Thalia was walking off, without looking at me. I followed her, up the street, past building after gleaming white building, all slapped together against perfect lawns of green grass and flowers and statues. It was ridiculously beautiful, and it made my heart clench that my own life wasn't all sunshine and green grass.

"In here," Thalia said, stopping outside another building, no different from the ones on either side. It was nondescript, white, and columned, like all of the buildings on Olympus. Thalia shoved open the door and we walked inside.

It was dark in the temple, with no light whatsoever filtering in from the outside. Instead, the ground immediately in front of me was lit with bronze braziers, showing a row of steps that sunk into the ground, beneath the temple.

Thalia walked down the stairs into darkness, and not wanting to be left alone in the creepy room, I followed.

It was faintly lit at the bottom by torches set in brackets along the walls. The walls were solid stone, and the walkway was extremely narrow. Even though I was not claustrophobic, I could not help the slight dread I felt when I realised that my knuckles scraped the walls when my arms were at my sides.

Thankfully, after a couple of meters, the corridor widened out, into an area about the size of a gazebo. There were other corridors, branching off, and we took the one on the right.

It was wider than the one we came in from, and on either side there were cells with iron bars. All of them were deserted, until we got to the end.

There were two figures standing in front of the last cell, on the right. They looked so incredibly life like that originally I thought they were real people. However, as I got closer in the darkness, I saw that they were, in fact, made of bronze.

Thalia stood in front of it, and motioned me inside.

"I've already talked to him," she said, smiling at me. "I think you should talk to him alone. I'll see you later." She squeezed my hand and then set off back down the hallway.

I stared at her for a second, before going inside the cell.

* * *

_The taxi sped down the highway, driving out of Orange County and into New York City. In the back, a man dressed in an immaculately pressed business suit was sitting, tapping the bottom of the car with the toe of one brilliantly polished shoe._

Percy's eyes were perfectly normal when I reached out of the hug to stare at his face.

"What?" he asked, frowning. "Do I have something on my face?"

I shook my head. "No. I'm just glad to see you again."

He smiled. "I'm glad to see you too."

And then he kissed me, and I melted. I had forgotten how good he made me feel, and all thoughts of everything melted away. He was fine. He wasn't trying to kill me. And he was kissing me.

_The taxi took the off-ramp, speeding onto the road that led to the city, weaving in and out of traffic at dangerous speeds. The man in the back sat calmly, as though he knew he had no need to rush, like he knew what was going to happen. The car passed the first few houses on the outskirts of the city._

He sat down on one side of the bench, and I on the other, just looking. Then he opened his mouth and began to speak.

"Annabeth," he said, running a hand through his dark hair. "I am so sorry for what I did to you. He—he forced me to do it. It was like I was a puppet on an invisible string—I couldn't break free even if I wanted to. And God, I wanted to. These last couple of days have been Hell. The amount of times I've tried to kill you is insane, and I hope that you'll forgive me, though I'll understand if you don't. I just—"

"Percy." I cut him off.

"What?" he asked.

"You're rambling. It's okay. I forgive you."

He stared at me for a second before breaking into a smile. And it was that smile that I had been missing for four years. It brought home exactly how much I'd missed him, how much pain and sadness I'd gone through over the past four years.

But now I had him back. Now it was okay. Because, finally, he was free.

_The car weaved through buildings, cutting off other drivers, earning curses and horn-honks from other drivers. The man in the back wasn't bothered by this, however. If he was bothered, he would have gone back and slaughtered every single one of them in their cars._

_The car pulled up in front of the Empire State Building and stopped. _

We were talking, randomly, about everything and nothing at all. It was easy and simple. It was comforting, that I was still able to talk like a normal person, and if one that did not know anything of the two's relationship, they would have found it amazing that just two short days ago, he was trying to kill her. This opinion would have changed in a couple of seconds, though.

_The man thanked the apparition in the front seat of the taxi, before stepping out on the pavement._

Mid-way through a sentence, Percy froze.

"Percy? Are you okay?" I asked him, uncertain. His pupils dilated, and he swayed slightly in his seat.

_The man took one deliberate step forward._

"Uh, Percy?" I went over to him. "Are you all—"

He leapt up, unbelievably fast, and I was on the floor, his tall frame on top of me. His hands wrapped around my throat, cutting off my air supply, and all I could do stare at him as his eyes slowly changed from sea-green to black.

* * *

**Sorry for the cliff-hangers. The story shall be over soon.**


	19. Epilogue

He didn't get very far, of course. Even as his hands closed around my throat, the two automatons from the doorway leapt into action. His hands were pried, forcefully, from my throat, and I scrambled backwards as he was shoved out of the room. He snarled the entire time.

* * *

Time went quickly, after that.

Brad came home from the hospital, but it didn't work between us. The stress I had put under had caused me to miscarry the child, and the two of us decided it would be better if we just called it quits.

I didn't see Percy Jackson for another year after the event on Olympus. Kronos had gone into hiding, it seemed, for he wasn't seen or heard of for the entire time. Olympus was still on alert, of course, and I made regular trips there to advise the Gods. It was a hugely esteemed position, and I knew I should feel honoured for such an opportunity. It exercised my mind, allowed me to teach, and if I was honest with myself, boss around younger tributes. I was allowed to walk among the Gods without consequence, and it was time-consuming enough that I didn't have to think about anything else.

Finally, the day came for his trial. Percy, for whatever reason, was being put on trial for treason. Though most of the younger Gods knew what had happened, Zeus was unmovable. It was a rough night the night before the trial. The oceans were rough, the sky thundered and small tremors were recorded all over the USA.

Six o'clock rolled around and I got out of bed, having not slept the night before. I went through my usual morning rituals before taking a taxi to New York.

Olympus, usually so full of life, was silent. Everyone was inside, the street parties abandoned, the streets cold. A light snow was falling, and it contrasted oddly with the blazing braziers that lined the avenues.

The trial was being held in a small building off to the side of the main temple. It was surprisingly modern looking, was vertical slats of darkened glass alternating with white brick.

A double doorway led inside. I slipped in quietly, shutting the door behind me.

To my surprise, it was an actual courtroom, complete with judge's box and jury stand.

Zeus, in all his pine-striped suit glory, sat in the judge's box. He glared at me with his electric-blue eyes before turning his attention back to the jury. I unfroze and went to sit at the back, next to Thalia.

The judges box was filled with the rest of the twelve Olympians—Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Dionysus, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus and Hermes. My mother looked at me for a few curious seconds before dropping her gaze and inclined her head towards Zeus, who was glaring out at the rest of the room.

The trial was long. I'm not entirely sure if the Gods knew exactly how a court-room worked—or if they'd just picked it up from a television show. The latter seemed more liked, since many of the Gods treated mortal television like the best thing since sliced bread.

Poseidon kept a cool head whilst talking about his son, though he glared at his brother the entire way through his opening statement.

"Can we see my son now?" Poseidon said. "The hero you're condemning to death for something that's not his fault?"

Zeus ignored the jibe, instead turning his head to a small door on his left. "Yes, I think so."

The door was pushed open as everyone focused upon it. The two automatons emerged, in single file, and between them was Percy.

He looked tried. He was slightly taller than I last saw him, but thinner, much, much thinner. His clothes, though brand new looking, hung ungracefully off him. His hair was unkept but his eyes looked as bright as ever. He flicked them over the crowd, roaming over us before locking onto me, all the way at the back. He gave no indication that he'd found me, staring for half a second before dropping his gaze to the floor.

He was shackled, the chain trailing across the floor, scraping against the tile every time he stepped forwards. He was escorted to the bench near the audience, and sat, the two automatons crashing down onto the long wooden seat with a loud crash that echoed through the room.

The room was utterly silent as some of the Gods-Ares, Hephaestus and Hermes-craned their necks to peer over at Percy. Apollo leaned over Artemis' lap to stare. With a glare, she shoved him upright. He looked hurt for a second, and prepared to open his mouth.

"Well," said Zeus hastily, sensing an argument about to break out between the brother and sister, "What do you have to say for yourself?"

In front of the rows of benches, Percy looked up to stare at the Lord of the Sky. "Noth-" He coughed. His voice was croaky, as though from disuse. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Nothing, sir." It came out stronger this time.

"So, you don't have anything to say, no explanation for your misdeeds?" Zeus asked, something almost like confusion on his face. "Are you not going to defend you actions?"

"No."

The confused look became more pronounced. "You are aware of the fact that if found guilty, you'll be sentenced to death?"

"I want to die."

...

Silence. Complete, utter, silence. Beside me, Thalia's mouth parted.

"You...what?" This was the first time I had seen Zeus at a loss for words.

"Perseus. Don't you..." Poseidon didn't finish his threat. He glared at his son, who stared resolutely forward and interrupted.

"I don't want to live in a world where I might kill someone without knowing it. It's been a year. You've been studying me, trying to figure out what's wrong with me, what can fix me. But you have nothing. It's been an entire year, and _you have nothing. _So stop. Stop torturing me. Aren't gods supposed to care for humans, for their children? _You are torturing me. _So get it over with. Kill me."

He glared right back at Zeus. "Hurry up and kill me!"

Zeus seemed taken aback. Poseidon looked on in horror. Dionysus looked bored, though the rest of the gods were taking a keen interest in the courtroom.

"Well. We'll go to the jury now..." Zeus turned to the jury, all of whom, including Dionysus, looked up expectantly.

Once again, he got it wrong: The eleven Olympians each called out their decision.

"I vote against killing him," Hermes said, snapping his cell shut. "He doesn't deserve it, not after everything he's done for us."

"I vote for." Hera's voice was cold.

"I vote for." Dionysus didn't even hesitate.

"Against," said Apollo. "It isn't his fault, dude."

Artemis hesitated. "As much as it pains me, I have to agree with my brother. Perseus Jackson has done good by us. Without him, we'd all be in Tartus."

"I vote against." Poseidon glared balefully at his brother. "You are not killing my son."

Ares, Aphrodite, Demeter, Athena and Hephaestus left. Two for, four against.

Ares grinned behind his glasses. "I say we kill the little bug."

Three for.

"Demeter?"

Demeter looked first at Percy, and then at Zeus. "I vote against killing the boy.

Five against.

Hephaestus looked at the boy for a second. "I am for. He's dangerous, and he did try to kill her." He was looking at me. Most people were, now, to see how I was dealing with it. I was silently hoping to the gods for some sort of miracle, but that was before I remembered that all the major gods were in the room. And half of them wanted to kill Percy.

Four for, five against. Two left to vote.

_At least there's no chance of a tie, _I thought, ruefully.

Aphrodite, strangely, looked at me.

"Why, I vote for!" she said in her delicate voice. "The brute tried to kill his love! What man does that?"

Hermes, Apollo and Poseidon glared at her. Artemis rolled her eyes.

"She's allowed to have her vote," Zeus said, sensing a fight about to break out. "_As nonsensical as it is," _he added in an undertone.

One left. _Come on Mom..._

The entire court-room looked on in expectant silence as Athena leaned forwards. Her gaze cut through the crowd, homing onto my own like a missile. Grey met grey, our eyes the exact same colour.

I could see the decision in her eyes.

_No, Mom. Please. No._

Her eyes seemed to say _I'm sorry._

"The boy is dangerous," she said, sighing and looking every one of her thousands of years at that point. "He also tried to kill my daughter, and that's something I can't ignore. I vote...I vote for Perseus Jackson's death."

...

...

...

...Six, five. Six for, five against.

_Oh, my Gods._

Percy Jackson was going to die.

...

The room began to shake. Cracks ran up the stone, and all the windows shattered. A chunk of masonry dislodged from the ceiling and crashed into the centre isle, just centimetres away from the two rows of witness seat.

"POSEIDON. STOP THIS!" Zeus roared, and a huge peal of thunder rumbled overhead.

A huge crack ran through the centre isle, ripping apart a few inches and ripping up the carpet. The demigods/lesser gods/numerous mythological creatures that lived on Olympus stampeded for the door. One of the automatons tumbled into the abyss, trailing sparks behind him. Percy sat, staring down at the bench that was rapidly splintering in front of him.

"Come on," Thalia said, pushing me towards the exit, "We have to get out of here until they calm down!"

I let her drag me along by the arm, but I felt numb inside.

We jumped out one of the broken windows, and the glass teared at my skin, bright red droplets of blood oozing out of the cuts and dripping onto the ground. Behind us, the ground rumbled again.

"Take cover!" Someone yelled. "It's going to explode!"

It was a good thing that Thalia pulled me down, because a large chunk of window frame ripped through the air at exactly the height my head had been a second before. The court-room, the entire building, exploded, debris raining down on Olympus.

I didn't notice, though. Because he was going to die. Percy was going to die.

* * *

"I'm sorry," he said.

We were standing in a clear area on the opposite side of where the building had been. Zeus was standing in front of us, looking expectantly.

I leaned forward and he crushed me into him. He still smelled like the sea.

"I know," I said.

"I'll...wait for you," he whispered in my ear.

I nodded.

This was the last time I ever saw Percy Jackson. With that final word, he stepped backwards into the middle of the square. That's when time slowed down. Athena turned her head towards me, something almost akin to sympathy in her wise and ancient eyes. Zeus avoided everyone's glance, instead snapping his fingers once. The sound was incredibly loud in the air. The sky rumbled and the air turned frigid. A blanket of white light enveloped Percy, starting at his feet before travelling up his arms and torso. When it reached his face, he closed his eyes, a slight smile on his lips.

When it enveloped him entirely, I felt something on my cheek, and realised I was crying. The blazing corona surrounding Percy pulsed, once, before exploding outwards in a cacophony of light, wind and sound. In that instant, Percy Jackson, the hero of Olympus, ceased to be, his atoms disolved and his spirit released from his body.

And when I looked back, I realised I was smiling. Because finally, _finally, _he was free.

* * *

_C'est Fait_


End file.
